# 🔴 LIVE: Public Testimony at NYC Council Hearing on AI Safeguards

The New York City Council Committee on Technology hearing on AI safeguards, held October 17, 2026, continued the Council’s examination of risks from frontier AI systems. Council members questioned SpaceX/xAI representative Gabriella Castillo Madrid about Grok’s safety testing, sexually explicit image generation, independent evaluation, incident reporting, whistleblower protections, and the company’s government and city relationships. The representative described internal testing and monitoring but did not provide several requested details, including safety-team staffing, insurance, specific government deployments, and whether conflict-free external evaluators were already engaged. Former xAI employee Devon Kim testified that he had raised concerns about safeguards for biological and other dangerous capabilities and alleged retaliation; he and his attorney urged stronger whistleblower protections and reportable-incident requirements.

Council members discussed proposed legislation, including independent third-party validation of AI systems, whistleblower protections, and emergency planning. Public testimony also alleged that private contractors are deploying AI tools in FDNY emergency-dispatch systems involving personal and health information, and urged a public AI-tool registry and civil-service review. The Council stated that it would continue work on AI legislation, but no procurement award, spending decision, or vote was identified in the transcript.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Information Technology, Public Safety
**Topics:** Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 17, 2026

### Sources
- [🔴 LIVE: Public Testimony at NYC Council Hearing on AI Safeguards](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7rWKCNtVic) - New York City Council