# NYC Council Puts Labs Under Oath — No Catastrophic-Risk Number, No Release-Gate Promise; xAI Skips Subpoena

Times of AI Desk · 2026-10-05 · Policy

[https://timesof.ai/2026/10/nyc-council-ai-hearing-labs-under-oath](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/nyc-council-ai-hearing-labs-under-oath)

> On Oct. 5, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta testified under oath to New York’s City Council on a package of proposed AI bills. None put a number on catastrophic risk or promised that failing an internal or third-party safety test would block a release. xAI did not appear despite a Council subpoena; Speaker Julie Menin said the Council is pursuing it in court. The bills remain proposals — nothing has passed.

New York’s City Council put the frontier labs on the record — and got process answers, not the commitments its proposed bills would make mandatory.

On **October 5, 2026**, the Council met as a **Committee of the Whole** (all 51 members; about **40** took part, per amNewYork) to hear a package of AI bills unveiled **Sept. 25**. Witnesses from **OpenAI** (Morgan Dwyer), **Anthropic** (Logan Graham), **Meta** (Shane Cahill) and **Google** (Alice Friend) testified **under oath**. None put a percentage on catastrophic risk. None gave a blanket commitment that failing an internal safety test or an independent third-party validation would automatically block a release. **xAI** — named **SpaceXAI** in Council materials and local coverage — **did not appear** despite a subpoena; Speaker **Julie Menin** said the Council is **pursuing that subpoena in court**.

The hearing landed days after the voluntary [White House frontier responsibilities accord](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/white-house-frontier-responsibilities-accord). On the record, lab answers stopped short of the kill-switch and third-party validation rules the city is weighing.

## What the proposals say

These are **legislative proposals**, not enacted law. The Council’s Sept. 25 release and NY1’s hearing coverage describe a package that includes (among others):

- **Intro 2602** — third-party validation plus a human **kill switch** for AI systems marketed, offered or deployed in the city; **$25,000** per violation (business and validator)
- **Intro 2605** — whistleblowers receive **a portion** of recovered fines (Council wording); **NY1** reports that share as **25%**
- **Intro 2600** — private right of action for foreseeable harms from misuse or jailbreaking
- **Intro 2601** — **24-hour** reporting of AI safety incidents by city contractors to Cyber Command
- An AI **emergency-response** plan and related measures

Mayor **Zohran Mamdani**, at a separate press conference, said AI needs regulation at every level but the most urgent response must come from **Washington**, and **did not endorse** specific bills pending review.

## What the labs would and would not say

Menin pressed for a catastrophic-risk probability. Dwyer declined to put a number on it and said no level is acceptable; Menin called that answer “flippant at best.” Graham discussed Anthropic’s risk work without a percentage. Cahill said he did not want to be imprecise. Friend said there is not yet a rigorous scientific method for assigning such a probability.

On release gates, Dwyer said OpenAI would not release models it did not believe were safe and has delayed releases before — but when asked whether failing an internal or third-party test would stop a release, she pointed back to process rather than a yes/no. Anthropic, Meta and Google likewise described review procedures without the blanket commitment Menin sought.

On liability for a rogue system causing serious harm, Friend gave the clearest line: existing legal frameworks apply, and “if it’s illegal without AI, it’s still illegal with AI.” Others largely declined to speak for legal departments.

Former OpenAI/Anthropic researcher **Jacob Coxon** testified it is **“more likely than not”** that humanity loses control of AI on the current path — his own assessment. Former researchers **Daniel Kokotajlo** and **Alex Turner** also testified; Turner put his personal estimate of an eventual AI takeover at roughly **one in three**.

Dwyer said OpenAI is reviewing possible agent misalignment incidents back to **November 2025** and was not aware of any affecting city systems so far — consistent with the desk’s earlier [100+ organization notification](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/openai-rogue-agent-review-100-orgs) story, not a new disclosure.

## The RAISE Act fight on the side

After the hearing, Assemblymember **Alex Bores** posted on **X** that he believed OpenAI had **“committed perjury”** over its RAISE Act stance — an accusation reported by amNewYork; the X post itself was not inspected here. When Council Member Christopher Marte raised the dispute, Dwyer said OpenAI **supports the New York RAISE Act as passed**, without saying the company had backed the original, stronger draft that sponsors say lobbyists fought.

## Limits

- Hearing facts and quotes are from **amNewYork** and **NY1** secondary coverage plus the Council’s **Sept. 25** proposals release — not a full hearing transcript.
- Bills are **proposals**. Nothing has passed; the mayor has not endorsed specific measures.
- Whistleblower share: Council says **“a portion”**; **25%** is **NY1’s** figure.
- Bores’ “perjury” line is an **X accusation** via amNY — attributed, with OpenAI’s on-record answer included.
- Council and local outlets name the absent company **SpaceXAI**; house style is **xAI**.
- WSJ and Bloomberg Law also covered the hearing (paywalled; not inspected).

## Sources

- [amNewYork: AI giants give few clear answers to key safety questions at NYC Council hearing amid whistleblower warnings (October 5, 2026)](https://www.amny.com/news/ai-giants-nyc-council-whistleblower-warnings/)
- [NY1: City Council takes on debate over catastrophic risks of AI (October 5, 2026)](https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2026/10/05/city-council-takes-on-the-debate-over-ai-risk)
- [New York City Council: Legislative Proposals to Safeguard New Yorkers from Potential Risks of Artificial Intelligence (September 25, 2026)](https://council.nyc.gov/press/2026/09/25/3252/)