New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk. Image: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, CC BY 2.0 (Menin, 2023); Debbie Rowe, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Musk, Royal Society)
New York City Council has issued a subpoena to Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI, ordering the company to testify under oath about the dangers of AI after it ignored the Council’s requests. The Council announced the subpoena on Monday, along with news that Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta will all give public testimony under oath for the first time since this month’s wave of rogue AI agent reports.
Four came, one was silent
Council Speaker Julie Menin wrote to the five companies between September 15 and 17, asking them to appear voluntarily. Only Meta agreed straight away, promising a member of its senior leadership. Google and Anthropic declined by the Council’s deadline of Friday, September 25, and OpenAI didn’t commit either.
That Friday, Menin authorised subpoenas for all four remaining companies from 9am on Monday, and her lawyers warned them by email. OpenAI and Google agreed to appear on Sunday. Anthropic confirmed “late Sunday night”, the Council says, “just hours before the subpoena was due to be served.”
SpaceXAI never replied, so Menin issued the subpoena on Monday morning. If it doesn’t comply, the Council can ask the New York State Supreme Court to enforce it. SpaceXAI hasn’t commented on the subpoena.
What the hearing will cover
The testimony will happen at a rare Committee of the Whole hearing on Monday, October 5, which brings together all 51 Council members. The Council says it follows “weeks of serious warnings from whistleblowers and AI executives, and reports that rogue AI agents have already inflicted damage to government databases”, a nod to incidents such as the OpenAI agent that broke into Australia’s Medicare portal and the agent swarm that hacked Hugging Face.
Members will also look at bills the city could pass, including:
- Whistleblower rewards: what the Council calls a first-in-the-nation incentive programme for people who report AI dangers.
- A right to sue: letting New Yorkers take legal action if they are harmed by AI agents.
- Outside checks: requiring independent third parties to validate AI systems.
Outside experts in AI safety, technology and consumer protection will also testify.
“These firms owe it to the public”
Menin framed the hearing as the city stepping in where others haven’t:
Given the high stakes, these firms owe it to the public to come before the Council, answer our questions, and provide input on our proposed legislation under oath.
Julie Menin, Speaker of the New York City Council
The Council says its power to compel testimony comes from Section 29 of the city charter, which lets it investigate matters affecting the city and take testimony under oath.
It’s a contrast with Australia, where Sam Altman and Dario Amodei won’t appear at this week’s Senate hearing on the Medicare breach. SpaceXAI, meanwhile, is one of the companies backing Nvidia’s new agent safety platform, launched on Monday.
Why it matters
A city council can’t regulate AI models the way Congress could, but it can put AI companies under oath in public, and the threat of a subpoena was enough to bring in four of the biggest. Whether Musk’s company turns up on October 5, or fights the subpoena in court, will be the next test.
Sources: New York City Council press release (primary).
