As concerns over artificial intelligence rise, New York City lawmakers grilled representatives for major AI companies on Monday — and emerged with little clarity over how they plan to address looming threats. The companies did not quantify the risk of a cataclysmic event, whether they had insurance in those instances, or whether they could stop an AI model that failed an internal safety test or external review. In one tense exchange, City Council speaker Julie Menin asked each company how they are quantifying 'the risk imposed by AI in the worst case catastrophic scenario.' Morgan Dwyer, who runs OpenAI’s policy development and operations, said, 'I don’t know,' and added that she does not think it matters whether the chance is 1 percent, 10 percent, or 20 percent.
Menin replied that none of these levels is remotely acceptable. Dwyer said OpenAI should not train models that cannot be safely kept under human control. The hearing featured testimony from Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, and Google, while a representative for the AI arm of SpaceX, controlled by Elon Musk, did not attend despite a subpoena.
Menin said she would ask a judge to intervene. Some companies are preparing for public trading, with Anthropic’s value projected to exceed $2 trillion in some reports. Whistleblower Jacob Coxon, who recently quit Anthropic, warned that humanity likely loses control of AI systems, potentially leading to human extinction, and criticized the companies’ 'move fast, break things' culture as reckless given the stakes.
Source: New York Times Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing