The City Council has issued a rare subpoena to compel testimony from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a hearing it is planning on the dangers of artificial intelligence.
Other AI firms, including Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as Google and Meta, have signaled they intend to send representatives to testify before the Council at an Oct. 5 hearing. The council said that the other companies agreed to testify after being threatened with a subpoena.
“Leading experts and AI executives themselves are warning about the potentially grave risks of rapidly advancing AI, and governments have a responsibility to act,” Speaker Julie Menin said in a statement. “Given the high stakes, these firms owe it to their workers and, above all, to the public to come before the Council, answer our questions, and provide input on our proposed legislation under oath.”
While the Council has subpoena power under the City Charter, it’s rarely been used. Menin pledged to use the power more, particularly to look into no-bid contracts and investigate private companies as well as city agencies. This is the first Menin has followed through on that promise.
Subpoenas are generally seen as a last-ditch option.
Concern around the AI boom has heightened in recent weeks, after a series of incidents in which AI systems breached both corporate and government systems on their own, without authorization.
Meanwhile, the leaders of several AI firms have warned of existential and security risks, and President Trump administration has dismissed the concerns, opposing slowing down or imposing heavily regulations as he looks to beat China in a race to develop the technology.
“We should be seeing a far greater response from the federal government on this issue, one that has the urgency befitting in any conversation around the end of humanity,” Mamdani said of the concerns around AI earlier this month.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
