New York City Council Hears Warnings From Ex-Tech Researchers Over AI Extinction Risks

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned the New York City Council on Monday, October 5, that artificial intelligence could lead to human extinction by the end of the decade. Coxon quit his job last month over these safety concerns and testified that the biggest tech companies operate with a reckless culture, racing to build technology they do not know how to control. Officials from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta also attended the hearing, while Elon Musk's SpaceX did not show up. In their testimonies, safety researchers who recently left Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind stated that the industry follows a startup mindset of moving fast and breaking things, which is dangerous when building the most powerful technology in history. Meanwhile, representatives from the tech firms called for greater local government oversight amid mounting fears that advanced AI systems could endanger humanity and cause unexpected hacking incidents.

Context

This hearing arrives as lawmakers across the United States and the world explore new rules to manage rapid technological growth and address fears of catastrophic harm. Local and state officials are increasingly stepping in to create reporting standards and transparency rules as federal action lags behind the fast pace of AI development.