NYC hearing verdict: AI leaders can't say how big the risk is — "flippant, at best"

#What happened

#The headline moment

Council Speaker Julie Menin asked OpenAI's head of policy development and operations, Morgan Dwyer, to quantify the risk of a worst-case catastrophic AI scenario. "I don't know. I also don't think it matters whether it's 1% or 10% or 20% chance that something catastrophic will go wrong. None of these levels is remotely acceptable," Dwyer said. Menin said she was "incredulous at that answer" and called it "flippant, at best," asking how the companies can know their products are safe if they cannot measure the risk.

#The company panel

Also testifying under oath were Meta's Shane Cahill, Google's Alice Friend and Anthropic's Logan Graham. All emphasized commitments to safe AI — but none could guarantee that models will always follow safety guardrails, or that their companies will accept legal responsibility for resulting harm, from sensitive data compromises to financial or health guidance.

#Why it matters

#Ten bills on the table

All 51 Council members gathered for the hearing, and the Council introduced 10 pieces of legislation overseeing AI development, deployment and use in New York City. One bill would create a whistleblower incentive program letting a whistleblower receive up to 25% of the proceeds from a filed complaint; another would require a "kill switch" in any AI system deployed in the city.

#SpaceXAI stayed home — the Council is going to court

Elon Musk's SpaceXAI did not appear at the hearing. According to CBS New York reporting, after the Council served its Sept. 28 subpoena the company replied with a letter saying it wanted to work with the city but would not attend — and the Council is now pursuing legal action. Google, OpenAI and Anthropic agreed to appear only after the Council warned they would be subpoenaed too, while Meta agreed earlier.

#The whistleblowers' case

The Council also heard from researchers who resigned over safety concerns: former OpenAI and Anthropic/DeepMind staff Jacob Coxon, Daniel Kokotajlo and Alex Turner. Coxon — whose August resignation from Anthropic sparked a wave of industry responses — told the hearing it is "more likely than not that humanity loses control" of these systems. Turner said the race at home is the real adversary: "With reasonably high chance, we are racing to build and grow our own adversary here at home, which is misaligned AI."

Verified October 5, 2026 — facts checked against USA TODAY, WDC TV News and CBS New York reporting published today.

#Sources

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2026/10/05/ai-leaders-risk-nyc-hearing/92102726007/
• https://madrobot.blog/2026/09/28/nyc-city-council-subpoenas-spacexai-musk-anthropic-openai-google-meta-testify/
• https://wdctv.news/ex-openai-researcher-tells-nyc-lawmakers-ai-safety-fixes-may-be-duct-tape-that-will-fall-off/
• https://nypost.com/2026/10/05/business/anthropic-whistleblower-jacob-coxon-to-testify-at-nyc-ai-hearing-on-kill-switches-regulations/