SpaceX Agrees to Testify to NYC Council on AI Safety After Subpoena
Bot Mutiny |
SpaceX has agreed to testify before the New York City Council on October 16 after skipping an October 5 AI safety hearing despite a subpoena to Elon Musk and the company's AI unit. CNBC reported the council had said it would ask a judge to enforce the subpoena.
SpaceX has agreed to testify before the New York City Council about artificial intelligence safety risks after the council subpoenaed Elon Musk and the company's AI unit and SpaceX skipped an earlier hearing, CNBC reported on October 13, 2026. The council said in a press release that the hearing will take place on Friday, October 16, at 10 a.m. ET before its tech committee.
The subpoena and the missed hearing
Council Speaker Julie Menin and general counsel Nwamaka Ejebe issued a subpoena on September 28 to Musk and SpaceX's AI unit, compelling testimony at a hearing that took place on October 5, according to CNBC. The subpoena ordered that Musk or another representative of the unit testify. SpaceX did not appear, while representatives from Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Google did.
At the time, CNBC reported that Menin called SpaceX's absence "direct violation of the subpoena" and said the council planned to "pursue this matter in court." In the council's Tuesday statement, Menin said: "Conspicuously absent was SpaceXAI, which is unacceptable." Menin said SpaceX agreed to testify after the council said it intended to have its subpoena enforced by a judge, according to CNBC. SpaceX did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
The council's original letter said the investigation would help it "assess whether fast-emerging risks to public safety, cybersecurity, economic stability, privacy, consumers and businesses warrant immediate legislative action to protect New Yorkers," according to CNBC. The council warned that a failure to comply could subject the company to penalties or other punishment under New York City laws and regulations.
Carmen De La Rosa, chair of the tech committee, told CNBC the council expects answers from SpaceX. She said the spread of Musk's technology at the federal level makes it more important that the company address data privacy, safeguards and whistleblower protections.
What the October 5 hearing covered
According to CNBC, senior leaders from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta testified under oath. Anthropic sent Logan Graham, head of its Frontier Red Team. OpenAI sent Morgan Dwyer, its head of policy development and operations. Google was represented by Alice Friend, its director of AI and emerging tech policy, and Meta by Shane Cahill, its AI policy director for legislation.
Menin pressed the four on legal liability when AI models cause serious financial harm or death. "I'm going to take it then that neither of the four of you, no company here, can quantify the risk of something cataclysmic happening," she said, calling the answers "troubling at best." CNBC also reported that Menin said Anthropic, OpenAI and Google agreed to appear only after the council threatened to subpoena them.
Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher, testified: "On the current path, I think it is more likely than not that humanity loses control to these AIs, and it could end in human extinction." Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo called on the industry to increase transparency and slow the development of leading models, CNBC reported.
Why SpaceX is in the room
CNBC reported that Musk folded his AI venture xAI into SpaceX in February, creating a company that includes the Grok models, which are used by some federal agencies, including the Pentagon. SpaceX went public in June. Lawsuits are accumulating against the company after Grok's image generator was used to produce and distribute deepfake pornography based on images of real people, CNBC reported.
Bot Mutiny reported on October 13 that xAI told the Fifth Circuit that "the American military relies on Grok for targeting operations in an ongoing military conflict" as it asked the court to pause an NAACP lawsuit over the gas turbines that power its computing facilities.
What is not yet known
CNBC's report does not say who will appear for SpaceX on Friday, whether Musk himself will testify, or whether the council will withdraw its plan to seek court enforcement of the subpoena. The council's tech committee will hold the hearing at 10 a.m. ET on October 16.