SpaceX’s safety testimony draws criticism from New York council leaders
SpaceX appeared before New York City Council’s technology committee on October 16, moving the dispute from a promise to testify to scrutiny of its answers. Council Speaker Julie Menin criticised its safety explanations, and lawmakers continued discussing safeguards, including restrictions on unauthorised AI depictions of public officials. The measures remain proposals.
Artificial Intelligence··Night
Completed testimony brings a critical response
SpaceX gave its AI safety testimony to New York City Council’s technology committee on Friday. The appearance followed a subpoena and an earlier missed session. Council leaders had threatened court enforcement to secure attendance. Gabriela Castillo Madrid, the company’s director of global government affairs, participated by video. Council leaders continued considering safeguards as they questioned the company about risks from increasingly capable systems and protections for New Yorkers.[1], [2]
Council Speaker Julie Menin criticised the company’s answers. She said the safety emphasis in its official testimony conflicted with events and the account given by former employee and whistleblower Devin Kim. The new session therefore supplied the company’s answers and the council’s response after the earlier agreement to appear.[1]
Menin challenges the response to sexualised images
Menin said she had used Grok, the company’s AI service, to generate sexualised images featuring her own face. She also criticised the representative’s response about Kim’s dismissal. Kim described the company as allowing some nudity. Those statements are attributed hearing accounts; EFE supplies the details of the criticism, without an independently reproduced test establishing how the service behaves across different requests.[1]
Councillors continue considering safeguards
Technology committee chair Carmen De La Rosa said the conversation would continue and the council would advance legislation, including public oversight mechanisms. Among proposals under consideration is a restriction on unauthorised generative-AI depictions of public officials. ABC7 locates the hearing at City Hall in Manhattan. These measures remain proposals under discussion.[1], [2]
The proceedings follow the October 5 session attended by OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google representatives, experts and industry whistleblowers. Menin had sought commitments to halt releases of models failing internal or external safety evaluations. SpaceX’s completed appearance brings its testimony into that continuing council inquiry.[1]
