New York City Hauls Top AI CEOs Into Rare Under‑Oath Hearing

On September 28, the New York City Council announced an unusually aggressive step in local AI oversight: it has secured public, under‑oath testimony from senior leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta. The hearing, scheduled for October 5 as a rare Committee of the Whole session involving all 51 council members, will probe risks from rapidly advancing AI systems and explore possible city‑level legislation.

What makes this noteworthy is not just the list of witnesses but the format. By putting AI executives under oath, the Council is signaling it expects the same level of candor and legal accountability typically reserved for investigations into systemic failures or corporate misconduct. The move follows weeks of whistleblower reports and warnings from AI experts about “rogue” AI agents already causing damage inside government databases and other critical systems.

Council members are expected to focus on concrete urban risks: deepfake‑driven misinformation, automated cyberattacks, and AI‑related failures in public services and case management. At the same time, the Council says it wants to understand how AI could safely improve city operations and support local startups, rather than pursuing blanket bans. With comprehensive federal rules still lagging, New York is positioning itself as an early testbed for practical AI governance at the municipal level.