Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Anthropic, will testify this Monday (5th) at a hearing held by the New York City Council (USA) regarding artificial intelligence (AI). He will participate in this session alongside representatives from major industry corporations such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta.
Coxon was invited by the Council President, Julie Menin, who has supported the inclusion of whistleblowers from AI companies in discussions about the risks of this technology. Currently, New York legislators are evaluating a set of proposed bills aimed at creating protection mechanisms related to the use of AI.
The researcher left Anthropic last month and had issued a strong warning about the competition in developing increasingly powerful AI systems. On that occasion, he accused both Anthropic and OpenAI of 'betting our lives.' Coxon confirmed his intention to attend the hearing.
New York's Efforts to Regulate AI
This hearing is part of a movement by New York authorities to intensify the city's involvement in AI regulation. The sector has grown very rapidly in the city, but much of the regulation concerning this technology is still the responsibility of state and federal governments.
One of the suggestions under review, promoted by Menin, involves granting financial incentives to whistleblowers. According to this proposal, individuals who report violations committed by AI companies could receive a portion of fines or other sanctions recovered by the public authority.
Other projects examined by the City Council include measures that would allow people harmed by AI systems to sue developers in certain situations. Furthermore, the mandatory independent validation of certain systems before they can be implemented in the city is being discussed.
Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google agreed to participate in the hearing after Menin's office warned that it could issue subpoenas if the companies did not attend. Meta had already committed to attending previously. The City Council also notified the SpaceX AI unit, as the company had not responded to requests to participate in the hearing.
