AI labs testify under oath before the NYC Council

What happened: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta sent executives to testify under oath before the New York City Council, only after the council threatened subpoenas. All 51 members sat as a committee of the whole on Monday and asked about the chance of an AI catastrophe. OpenAI's representative said he didn't know and that no level of risk is acceptable; Speaker Julie Menon criticized that answer. Anthropic's Logan Graham and Meta's Shane Cahill gave no number, and Google's Alex Friend said no rigorous method exists yet. Former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner put the odds of an eventual AI takeover at roughly 1 in 3. On liability, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta gave no direct answer; Google said if it's illegal without AI, it's illegal with AI. Menon demanded written follow-ups. Bills on the table include a whistleblower reward program, a right to sue over harm from AI agents, and independent testing.
The claim: The companies say they test their models for risks ranging from cyberattacks to loss of control.
Austin's take: Austin thinks asking for doomsday odds focuses on the wrong thing. He compares AI to the early internet, says the effort should go into skilling people up, and calls city-level restrictions on labs built elsewhere a bit absurd, warning they could mostly limit New Yorkers' own access.
Why it matters: Local governments are getting AI labs on the record under oath, following California's recent bills and subpoenas. Whether a city has real leverage over models built elsewhere is an open question.
What to do: If you're in New York City, watch the whistleblower, right to sue and independent testing bills, and look for the labs' written follow-ups.
Not confirmed yet: It's unclear whether New York City's jurisdiction can meaningfully affect labs that build their models elsewhere.
Sources: Full stories and sources

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