The BaseEssayMarcus on AI
Coming soon: New York City’s hearing on AI risks
Gary Marcus previews planned testimony for a New York City Council hearing on AI policy. Marcus argues AI is powerful but hard to control and that the administration in Washington will not act, and urges the council to back a bill requiring third-party validation of AI used in the city, plus whistleblower protections, citing signs OpenAI may have fired whistleblowers.
Why it matters
The same thing, for different readers.
What it means for you
New York City is weighing whether AI used in the city must pass independent checks, and whether to protect workers who warn about AI dangers.
For lawmakers
Marcus urges a city-level, FDA-style approval regime for AI and whistleblower protections, arguing cities and states can act where Congress has not.
The question it raises
Can a city govern a global technology, and should AI need approval before reaching people, the way a new drug does?
In their own words
Every quotation was found, word for word, in the text we saved from the source.
From the source’s own text.
“Contemporary AI is like a bull in a china shop, powerful and impressive, but difficult to control.”
“Not every fear that people talk about strikes me as realistic – I rather doubt that human extinction is imminent, despite all the headlines – but it is clear that AI comes with serious risks.”
“What we need, above all else, is an FDA-like regulatory regime for AI, in which AI developers bring their software to independent review, much as drug manufacturers bring their new drugs to the FDA for a review.”
“New York City is in a position to do what the US Senate failed to do: demand independent regulatory review for AI used in its borders.”
“Without strong protections from whistleblowing, like New York City is considering, we are all in trouble.”
The record
- Questions
- Who can demand evidence, delay a release or stop an unsafe deployment? · Are AI companies putting stronger safeguards into practice?
- People
- Gary Marcus (Wrote it, NYU Professor Emeritus) · Sam Altman (Mentioned)
- What we read
- We read the whole source.
- Found by
- The Radar, run of October 12, 2026, via
marcus-on-ai(tier 1: the source’s own channel or an official record) - Cite this
- Marcus on AI, “Coming soon: New York City’s hearing on AI risks”, October 5, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/marcus-2026-10-05-nyc-hearing-ai-risks