Semafor - Exclusive: Firms see greater threat from AI than Trump attacks, report finds
Semafor - January 15
By Morgan Chalfant
Companies face greater risks to their reputation from misuse of artificial intelligence than from targeting by the Trump administration, according to a new report shared exclusively with Semafor.
The Reputational Risk Index for the fourth quarter of 2025 — produced by the Global Situation Room, a public affairs agency, and based on opinions from dozens of executives — found that organizations are more worried about AI-related problems like deepfakes than they are about President Donald Trump singling them out for criticism.
The finding represents a shift from the third quarter report, which found the US president to be the biggest reputational risk for corporate brands.
“Artificial intelligence has emerged as the single greatest driver of reputational risk, reshaping how trust is built — or lost — across sectors,” said Isabel Guzman, a former Biden administration official who chairs the Global Risk Advisory Council, which informs the report. “From deepfakes to health misinformation, its rapid evolution is outpacing regulatory and institutional safeguards,” she added.