Misuse of AI is brands’ top reputational threat, new survey says - The Guardian

Misusing artificial intelligence (AI) is the top threat to companies’ reputations – more so than being accused of putting children in the way of mental, emotional or physical harm and issues exposed by the US-Israel war on Iran, among other brand risks, according to a new survey of more than 150 public affairs leaders. Those findings in the new edition of the quarterly Reputation Risk Index, released on Tuesday, came on the heels of other perhaps more dire warnings from leading tech figures that AI in the wrong hands could precipitate existential threats on a mass scale such as nuclear war or destruction by bioweaponry. The index’s publisher, the Global Risk Advisory Council, acknowledged that misuse of AI is not a particularly new concern in its area of focus, having been identified as a top worry repeatedly since the first edition of the survey in April 2025. But the council said what was new was its attaching an advisory to its latest survey advising business leaders to “take immediate and decisive action to mitigate potential long-term brand damage” with respect to AI, as the technology has “become a clear and present danger to public confidence for many corporations”.