space x Artificial intelligence policy leader Gabriela Castillo Madrid is scheduled to testify before the New York City Council on Friday as part of a legislative inquiry into AI safety.
A public hearing with the City Council’s technical committee is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET at City Hall, and Castillo Madrid will appear via video conference.
Elon Musk’s aerospace, defense technology and AI company initially avoided requests and subpoenas from the City Council to appear with its leaders. OpenAI, human, google and Meta SpaceX agreed to testify earlier this week after the council threatened to force a judge to subpoena it.
The council launched the inquiry after a month of intense debate over the risks posed by advanced AI models, and aims to use the testimonies and information it unearths to guide new regulations.
Before assuming a government affairs role at SpaceX earlier this year, Castillo-Madrid worked for Musk’s social media company X, which is now owned by SpaceX, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he spent almost three years at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
When he merged SpaceX and xAI in February, Musk combined the AI and social networking businesses with the rocket launch company, which also owns the satellite internet service Starlink. The merger gave SpaceX control of Grok, an AI model used by some federal agencies, including the Department of Defense.
SpaceX went public in June and is currently valued at about $2 trillion. In August, SpaceX completed its $60 billion acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor.
By skipping an earlier New York City Council hearing, SpaceX avoided direct questioning from British MP Jess Asato, who testified about her experience with online harassment by AI.
Asato is suing xAI in the UK, accusing Grok users of creating and distributing sexual images of her online without her consent. She alleges misuse of personal information and violation of European data protection regulations, and is seeking damages.
According to the BBC, Asato criticized SpaceX’s “arrogance” for not showing up last week.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment ahead of the meeting.
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