SpaceX AI Policy Leader to Testify Before New York City Council

SpaceX’s senior manager of global government affairs, Gabriela Castillo Madrid, will appear by video conference at the New York City Council’s technology committee hearing on Friday morning. The council has summoned the company after it initially declined to attend a prior session that included leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta. The hearing is intended to gather information for potential AI-safety regulations.

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The council launched its probe after a month of intense public debate over the risks of advanced AI models. Earlier this month, officials from Google, Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI testified, offering accounts that described AI as an “existential threat.” SpaceX, which merged with Musk’s xAI in February, now controls the Grok chatbot—used by several federal agencies, including the Pentagon. The company went public in June and is valued at about $2 trillion, according to the CNBC report. In August, SpaceX completed a $60 billion acquisition of the AI-coding startup Cursor.

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Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, chair of the technology committee, said she expects “better answers” from SpaceX given the company’s growing presence in federal programs. Council Speaker Julie Menin noted that the council had warned SpaceX that it would seek a court order to enforce the subpoena, after which SpaceX requested a meeting. SpaceX has not provided comment ahead of the hearing.

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• “We are prepared to ask similar questions expecting better responses. With the proliferation of Elon Musk’s technology at the federal level, it is even more important they come to the discussion with robust context about data privacy, safeguards, and whistleblower protections,” — De La Rosa, chair of the technology committee

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