Technology

Speaker Julie Menin hopes to bring the biggest AI companies to the table. Will Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit

When people concerned about the potentially disastrous effects of artificial intelligence say that frontier models are in need of urgent government regulation, the government body they are looking to is probably not the New York City Council.

But in lieu of federal action, the City Council’s 51 members are coming together for a rare “Committee of the Whole” to probe the swirling existential questions and more recently explosive concerns about safety, misuse by bad actors and a lack of oversight.

And Speaker Julie Menin is not-so-gently requesting the participation of industry leaders OpenAI and Anthropic. In a letter to both companies, Menin said that the council “invites and expects your company to participate” in the process of probing those questions at a hearing set for Oct. 5. The companies both have office space in New York City and have city lobbying firms on retainer. OpenAI is represented by Bolton-St. Johns while Anthropic has CMW Strategies and London House.

The last time the council is recorded as holding a Committee of the Whole – as opposed to a typical committee hearing – was in 2022, examining the city’s provision of services to migrants. 

In a press release, Menin said that AI has the potential to deliver many upsides, including economic growth and scientific discovery, but made clear that the council intends to act as a watchdog in this hearing. “As this technology advances at an extraordinary pace, government has an urgent responsibility to ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of public safety,” she said. “The Council will use every tool at our disposal to examine these practices, determine where additional safeguards may be needed, and take any necessary legislative action to protect New Yorkers.”

The City Council may have relatively little power to regulate those companies – or to catch the attention of a deadlocked Congress – but the hearing will be one to tune into if the companies participate.