SpaceX AI policy chief to testify in NYC Council safety probe
Gabriela Castillo Madrid will appear by video conference Friday after SpaceX agreed to comply with a council subpoena it had initially avoided.
At a glance
- Gabriela Castillo Madrid, SpaceX's AI policy leader, will testify before the NYC Council tech committee at 10 a.m. ET Friday.
- SpaceX agreed to appear after the council threatened court enforcement of its subpoena; it skipped an Oct. 5 hearing.
- The council says it will use the investigation's findings to guide new regulations on advanced AI models.
SpaceX's artificial intelligence policy leader, Gabriela Castillo Madrid, is set to testify before the New York City Council on Friday as part of a legislative investigation into AI safety.
The hearing before the council's tech committee is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET at City Hall, with Castillo Madrid appearing by video conference.
Subpoena and an earlier hearing
Elon Musk's aerospace, defense technology and AI company initially evaded requests and a subpoena from the city council to appear alongside leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta at a hearing on Oct. 5. SpaceX agreed to testify earlier this week after the council threatened to have its subpoena enforced by a judge.
The council opened its investigation after a month of intense debate over the risks posed by advanced AI models. It aims to use testimony and information gathered through the probe to guide new regulations.
Who is testifying
Castillo Madrid took a role in government affairs at SpaceX earlier this year, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that she worked at X, Musk's social media company that is now owned by SpaceX, and prior to that she spent almost three years at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment ahead of the meeting.
SpaceX's expanding AI business
In February, Musk merged SpaceX with xAI, combining his AI and social networking business with his rocket launch company, which also owns the Starlink satellite internet service. The merger put SpaceX in control of the AI model Grok, which is used by some federal agencies, including the Pentagon.
SpaceX went public in June and is now valued at about $2 trillion. In August it completed a $60 billion acquisition of Cursor, an AI coding startup.
Harassment testimony missed
By skipping the earlier hearing, SpaceX avoided direct questioning from Jess Asato, a member of the U.K. Parliament who testified about experiencing AI-enabled online harassment.
Asato is suing xAI in the U.K. after Grok users created and distributed sexualized images of her online without her consent. She is seeking damages, alleging misuse of her private information and breaches of European data protection rules.
According to the BBC, Asato criticized SpaceX for its "arrogance" in not appearing last week.
Source: CNBC.
Questions and answers
- Who is testifying for SpaceX at the New York City Council AI safety hearing?
- Gabriela Castillo Madrid, SpaceX's AI policy leader, will appear by video conference before the council's tech committee. She previously worked at X and spent almost three years at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- What is the New York City Council investigating?
- The council opened a legislative investigation into AI safety following a month of intense debate over the risks of advanced AI models. It aims to use testimony and information from the probe to guide new regulations.
- Why did SpaceX skip the earlier council hearing?
- SpaceX initially evaded requests and a subpoena to appear alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta on Oct. 5. It agreed to testify only after the council threatened to have the subpoena enforced by a judge.
