Ex-Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon to appear at New York City hearing on AI
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quit in September and issued a stark warning about the race to develop increasingly powerful AI.
NEW YORK – Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned that artificial intelligence could become too powerful for humans to control, will testify on Oct 5 at a New York City Council hearing alongside representatives of some of the world’s biggest AI companies.
Coxon will appear at the request of Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has urged AI whistleblowers to testify as city lawmakers weigh a package of bills aimed at establishing safeguards around the technology, according to people familiar with the matter.
Coxon quit Anthropic in September and issued a stark warning about the race to develop increasingly powerful AI, accusing his former employer and OpenAI of “gambling with our lives.” He confirmed he plans to testify on Oct 5.
The hearing will put some of the industry’s most vocal critics in the same room as representatives of Anthropic, OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Meta.
Former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner and Daniel Kokotajlo, executive director of the AI Futures Project and a former OpenAI researcher, are also expected to testify, according to one of the people. Turner confirmed he plans to attend the hearing. Kokotajlo could not be reached for comment.
Menin’s office said Anthropic will be represented by Logan Graham, head of its Frontier Red Team, which tests advanced AI models for their capabilities and risks. OpenAI will send Morgan Dwyer, head of policy development and operations; Meta will send Shane Cahill, an AI policy director; and Google will be represented by AI policy executive Alice Friend.
A spokesperson for Google declined to comment. Representatives for the other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
The hearing is part of an effort by New York officials to play a larger role in regulating an industry that has expanded rapidly in the city, even as much of AI regulation remains the province of federal and state governments.
One proposal before the council, sponsored by Menin, would give whistleblowers a portion of fines or penalties recovered from AI companies following reported violations. Other legislation under consideration would allow people harmed by AI systems to sue developers under certain circumstances and require third-party validation of some systems before they can be deployed in the city.
OpenAI, Anthropic and Google agreed to appear after Menin’s office warned that they could be subpoenaed, while Meta had committed to attending earlier, Bloomberg News previously reported. The Council subpoenaed SpaceX’s artificial intelligence unit after it failed to respond to requests to appear.
Officials from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration will also testify, including Samuel Levine, commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and Sarah Milstein, deputy commissioner at the Office of Technology and Innovation. BLOOMBERG
