International AI Safety Report 2026

This Report provides a scientific assessment, guided by over 100 experts from more than 30 countries and international organisations, of general-purpose AI: a rapidly evolving and highly consequential technology. Contributors differ in their views on how quickly capabilities will improve, how severe risks may become, and the extent to which current safeguards and risk management practices will prove adequate. On core findings, though, there is a high degree of convergence. General-purpose AI capabilities are improving faster than many experts anticipated. The evidence base for several risks has grown substantially. Current risk management techniques are improving but insufficient. This Report cannot resolve all underlying uncertainties, but it can establish a common baseline and an approach for navigating them.

A year of change

Regular scientific assessment allows for changes to be tracked over time. Since the first International AI Safety Report was published in January 2025, multiple AI systems have solved International Mathematical Olympiad problems at gold-medal level for the first time; reports of malicious actors misusing AI systems for cyberattacks have become more frequent and detailed, and more AI developers now regularly publish details about cyber threats; and several developers released new models with additional safeguards, after being unable to rule out the possibility that they could assist novices in developing biological weapons. Policymakers face a markedly different landscape than they did a year ago.

The core challenge

A number of evidence gaps appear repeatedly throughout this Report. How and why general-purpose AI models acquire new capabilities and behave in certain ways is often difficult to predict, even for developers. An ‘evaluation gap’ means that benchmark results alone cannot reliably predict real-world utility or risk. Systematic data on the prevalence and severity of AI-related harms remains limited for most risks. Whether current safeguards will be sufficiently effective for more capable systems is unclear. Together, these gaps define the limits of what any current assessment can confidently claim.

The fundamental challenge this Report identifies is not any single risk. It is that the overall trajectory of general-purpose AI remains deeply uncertain, even as its present impacts grow more significant. Plausible scenarios for 2030 vary dramatically: progress could plateau near current capability levels, slow, remain steady, or accelerate dramatically in ways that are difficult to anticipate. Investment commitments suggest major AI developers expect continued capability gains, but unforeseen technical limits could slow progress. The social impact of a given level of AI capabilities also depends on how and where systems are deployed, how they are used, and how different actors respond. This uncertainty reflects the difficulty of forecasting a technology whose impacts depend on unpredictable technical breakthroughs, shifting economic conditions, and varied institutional responses.

The value of shared understanding

The trajectory of general-purpose AI is not fixed: it will be shaped by choices made over the coming years by developers, governments, institutions, and communities. This Report is not prescriptive about what should be done. By advancing a shared, evidence-based understanding of the AI landscape, however, it helps ensure that those choices are well-informed and that key uncertainties are recognised. It also allows policymakers in different jurisdictions to act in accordance with their community’s unique values and needs while working from a common, scientific foundation. The value of this Report is not only in the findings it presents, but in the example it sets of working together to navigate shared challenges.