Artificial intelligence whistleblowers painted a dismal picture about the direction the technology is going at a City Council hearing Monday, warning local lawmakers to put in place regulations to slow its growth — even as the companies insist they’re operating with caution.
The rare Committee of the Whole meeting came as public fears around AI have spiked and the Trump administration has taken a lax stance on the rapidly developing technology. At the hearing, industry leaders warned of potential dangers like bioengineered plagues, or even an end to humanity.
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon testified that AI could “could make nearly everyone’s life better” with advancements in science and medicine.
“But on the current path, I think it is more likely than not that humanity loses control to these AIs, and it could end in human extinction,” Coxon told the Council, adding that companies driving this process like OpenAI and Anthropic “need to take safety much more seriously.”
Executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta also testified during the marathon hearing, facing dubious lines of questioning from dozens of councilmembers.
Their testimony on Monday was the first such appearance before any legislative body. But local lawmakers, even for the largest city in the country, have only limited tools with which to regulate the internationally operating companies. Menin said she hopes the Council’s work can serve as an example for lawmakers in D.C.
“The federal...
THE BILLING GRID A weekly column on research billing and coverage analysis, by Krishma Shah A coordinator submits a lab requisition. The central lab bills it to the site. The site bills it to Medi...