AI Giants Face Oath-Bound Scrutiny at NYC Hearing

Senior leaders from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta testified under oath about the potential dangers of the technology and outlined current safety measures. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that on the current path, humanity is likely to lose control to these AIs, and it could end in human extinction. NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin appeared frustrated with the lack of direct responses to questions about legal liability when AI models cause serious financial harm or death.

The New York City Council's Committee of the Whole convened on October 5, 2026, at City Hall, with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta scheduled to give their first public testimony under oath on the risks of artificial intelligence. Former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner warned that "misaligned" artificial intelligence could prove more dangerous than China's aggressive development push.

Anthropic whistleblower Jacob Coxon called out the industry's "extremely reckless" approach to development, telling the packed room that on the current path, he thinks it is more likely than not that humanity loses control to these AIs, and it could end in human extinction. Coxon warned that with reasonably high chance, the world is racing to build and grow misaligned AI as its own adversary, which could one day be more powerful than China.

Anthropic sent Logan Graham, the head of its Frontier Red Team, while OpenAI was represented by Morgan Dwyer, the company's head of policy development and operations. Google's director of AI and emerging tech policy Alice Friend, and Meta's AI policy director Shane Cahill, also attended. When pressed on legal liability, OpenAI's Dwyer did not directly address whether the company would bear liability, Graham said the question was outside his expertise, Cahill declined to speculate, while Google's Friend gave the clearest response, stating that existing legal frameworks apply to AI.

The Council had secured the first public testimony under oath from the four companies covering both potential dangers of AI technology and the companies' input on potential legislative solutions, with Speaker Julie Menin stating these firms owe it to the public to answer questions under oath.