NEW YORK — A prominent New York City politician took center stage Monday in the AI debate — and it wasn’t the mayor. Zohran Mamdani.
In a highly anticipated hearing featuring a litany of dystopian predictions, City Council President Julie Menin grilled representatives from four major AI companies who appeared virtually before the 51-member legislature. The lawmaker emerged from the marathon session as City Hall’s chief AI antagonist.
“It’s disappointing that they can’t seem to answer some of the most basic, rudimentary questions: They can’t quantify the risk of a cataclysmic event. They can’t answer the question of whether or not they would release one of their models that failed an internal security test or a third-party validation test.” Menin told reporters. “They couldn’t even answer if they have catastrophe insurance (and) they couldn’t answer if the company should be liable for catastrophic damages, death, injuries, etc.”
While Mamdani has proven his ability to capture and maintain attention on zeitgeist issues – think affordability, housing and Gaza – he has ceded attention to AI regulation to Menineven as concerns over emerging technologies become the defining political issue of the day. It gave one of her main political rivals, whose very job is framed as a check on executive power, the fuel to boost her visibility on an issue that resonates deeply with voters.
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