Jacob Coxon, who previously worked as a researcher at Anthropic and drew public attention for voicing the view that AI poses a threat to human existence, is set to testify at a New York City Council hearing on the technology. His appearance came at the invitation of Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has been calling on AI industry insiders with firsthand knowledge of wrongdoing to give testimony as the city moves toward a more active role in overseeing the technology sector, according to a news outlet.
Two researchers with backgrounds at prominent AI labs — Alex Turner, previously of Google DeepMind, and Daniel Kokotajlo, who left OpenAI to lead the AI Futures Project, an organisation examining how the technology shapes society — had been lined up to give testimony, according to a source speaking to a broadcast news outlet. Delegates from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta are set to share a venue with a number of vocal opponents of those same organisations. Representatives from major technology companies attending the event hold policy and executive roles rather than the top leadership position at their respective firms.
Coxon stepped away from his position at Anthropic last month, stating in a public notice that the pace of AI development posed a threat capable of ending human life within the decade, a view that has fed into broader conversations about oversight and regulation. Chiefs of leading artificial intelligence firms have collectively called for tighter oversight of their own product launches, stating that coordinated action across borders is necessary to keep AI development from advancing beyond human control.
In a lengthy essay, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei called on rival companies to coordinate limits on the speed of developing new AI models, citing unease about what he termed "recursive self-improvement" — a scenario where AI systems gain the ability to enhance their own capabilities independent of human oversight. Voices from across the tech industry — among them Sam Altman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of SpaceX, and Bill Gates of Microsoft — have each put forward concerns about the potential hazards of letting artificial intelligence develop without adequate oversight.
On the question of AI oversight, Trump has held the view that placing curbs on domestic development carries a greater risk than any ground gained by China in the sector, while the tech firms are understood to have agreed to testify before the panel only after legislators raised the possibility of mandatory subpoenas. According to Menin, the three companies — Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic — had initially declined to participate before the council dispatched formal letters invoking the threat of subpoenas, at which point all three reversed course and committed to appearing.
A set of proposed ordinances targeting artificial intelligence firms operating in New York City — among them provisions for mandatory shutdown mechanisms and financial incentives for those who report violations internally — is set to come before city policymakers and technology industry leaders for deliberation. New York City has moved to assert greater oversight of the technology as its footprint in the city grows, even though the industry ordinarily falls under the purview of state and federal regulators.
Under rules set by Governor Kathy Hochul, New York will require artificial intelligence companies to register through a government portal by November and to notify authorities of any safety incidents within three days. Under the proposals put forward by the City Council, any company wishing to advertise, sell, or put into operation an AI system across the five boroughs would first be required to submit that technology for review by independent experts.
Under the draft legislation, any artificial intelligence tool operating within the city would be required to incorporate a manual override mechanism capable of halting the system on demand, and organisations that fall short of either requirement would face a penalty of $25,000. Under a separate legislative proposal, penalties collected from companies found in breach would feed a financial incentive programme designed to encourage people to come forward with information about wrongdoing.
Two officials connected to Mayor Zohran Mamdani's city administration — Samuel Levine, who leads the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and Sarah Milstein, a representative from the technology office — had been scheduled to appear before the hearing panel and deliver testimony.
