New York City Proposes AI Rules with Whistleblower Rewards

New York City council members have proposed a package of bills to strengthen AI oversight, including financial rewards for whistleblowers who report dangerous AI practices. Whistleblowers could receive a share of fines collected from companies. Another measure would let people harmed by AI systems sue the developers.

Council Speaker Julie Menin unveiled the bills ahead of an October 5 hearing on AI risks, with all 51 members expected to attend. Menin asked the CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, SpaceX's AI unit and Meta to testify, saying subpoena power could be used if needed.

Other proposals would require AI systems to pass third-party verification before being marketed, sold or deployed in New York City, and to have a human-controlled emergency shutdown switch. Chatbot providers would need to follow data privacy, security and transparency rules, with the city able to enforce them.