Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI has agreed to testify before the New York City Council this week, ending a subpoena standoff after lawmakers threatened to ask a state judge to force the company to appear.
Council Speaker Julie Menin will announce Tuesday that SpaceXAI is set to testify Friday before the Council’s Committee on Technology, according to the council. amNewYork contacted SpaceXAI to confirm its participation and identify who will testify, and is awaiting a response.
The agreement follows a weeks-long standoff that began when Menin sought voluntary testimony from five of the world’s largest AI companies in September. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta eventually agreed to appear. SpaceXAI did not, prompting Menin to subpoena the company Sept. 28.
Musk’s company then skipped the Council’s nearly 10-hour Oct. 5 hearing, where Menin said from the dais that SpaceXAI was in “direct violation” of the subpoena and that the Council was pursuing enforcement in court.
The Council says it later told SpaceXAI it planned to ask a state Supreme Court judge to enforce the subpoena. SpaceXAI requested a meeting with Council officials Oct. 7 and subsequently agreed to testify Friday at 10 a.m. The Council has not yet disclosed who the company will send.
Friday’s hearing will give lawmakers an opportunity to press SpaceXAI on many of the same questions its competitors faced last week, including how the company assesses catastrophic risks, what would stop it from releasing a model that raised safety concerns, and who should bear responsibility if an AI system causes serious harm.
Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI agrees to testify before City Council after subpoena standoff
