Speaker Menin Recaps AI Oversight Hearing and Proposed Legislation

Thank you.

We will now have communication from Speaker Menon.

Thank you, Mr.

Majority Leader.

So good afternoon, everyone.

This week has certainly been no ordinary week.

And Monday's hearing was no ordinary hearing.

We convened a rare committee of the whole oversight hearing to discuss artificial intelligence.

And I first of all want to thank all the members who attended.

It was just an incredible, incredible hearing.

And many of you stuck it out along with myself and Chair De La Rosa to the bitter, bitter end late at night.

And so really appreciated that.

We discussed the benefits it may produce, the threats it may pose, and the responsible guardrails around it that we have proposed to ensure that New Yorkers are protected.

We listened to incredibly compelling testimony from whistleblowers that had come from all over the country, from experts, from academics.

We heard from city agencies to receive their perspectives on the policy.

that we are seeking to implement.

And we asked questions to the firms leading the research and development of this very technology.

One thing was very clear.

Their answers were concerningly insufficient and hardly instilled confidence.

We are proud to be the city, let me be clear, with the most tech jobs in the country, even more than San Francisco, over 400,000 jobs.

We're so thrilled to be able to have all of these different startups that are locating here, that are doing incredible work in AI around medical and scientific breakthroughs.

We do not want to stifle innovation.

On the contrary, we want to foster it.

And the best way to continue that responsible growth of AI is to ensure that New Yorkers have faith and confidence that the models that the frontier AI companies are releasing are indeed safe.

So if it is, quote unquote, it is more likely than not that we would lose control to AIs and it could end in human extinction, this is a direct quote that whistleblower Jacob Coxon told us on Monday,

then companies self-regulating this industry is one solution.

That accelerates that and that really can cause concern.

So this certainly doesn't have to be the case.

It's in our power to ensure that it isn't.

And I'm certainly hopeful that our hearing can serve as a model for meaningful progress at the state, excuse me, or federal.

And let me just say one other word on that.

Obviously, we want to see action on the federal level, as I said on Monday, but there has not been that.

And so in the absence of federal regulation, it is absolutely...

Our obligation in New York City to step up when all of these companies have huge outposts here employing thousands and thousands of workers.

And as I said at the hearing, just like the pharmaceutical industry doesn't self-regulate, you of course have the FDA.

Just as the airline industry doesn't self-regulate, you have the FAA.

Just like the financial services firms don't self-regulate, they have the SEC and other agencies.

So similarly,

Our legislation, and I want to thank the colleagues who introduced legislation, that package of bills, those 10 bills, are really important to ensure responsible development of safe models moving forward.

And as I said, I look forward to having other committees have hearings on AI and consider additional legislation as well.

So Monday was the beginning of that.