Risk Reports + Resources

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• The Q2 2026 Reputation Risk Index arrives as a year of mounting instability gives way to open conflict. The geopolitical strain our Council had been forecasting has materialized into active war, vaulting Major International Disruption to the top of our Index for the first time and pulling supply chains, energy markets, and entire workforces into its orbit. Where last quarter's threats compounded one another at the margins, they now intersect head-on as armed conflict feeds cyberattacks, artificial intelligence accelerates fraud, and political pressure reshapes how organizations operate under scrutiny.

• The real-world risks of AI are becoming painfully clear as a growing number of lawsuits link these products directly to real-world tragedies. OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman have been sued by families of victims of a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, after the company's own staff flagged the shooter's ChatGPT account months before the attack but declined to alert law enforcement. In Florida, the state's attorney general has launched a criminal investigation into the company. This marks an extraordinary escalation that raises the question of whether an AI platform can bear criminal responsibility as a principal in a crime. These cases mark a stark turning point. The threat is not just about how AI can cause reputational damage, but whether corporations deploying the technology can be held legally and even criminally accountable for harm stemming from its use.

• The custodial role law firms play makes data security a defining vulnerability, and 2026 has already produced a steady drumbeat of breaches. Fried Frank faced a class action after a breach exposed Social Security numbers and banking details belonging to Goldman Sachs fund investors; legal-research mainstay LexisNexis suffered its second major incident in a year, with hackers mocking the company for repeatedly reusing a trivial password; and Jones Day confirmed a phishing attack by a group the FBI has warned specifically targets law firms. Each incident converts a private security lapse into a public breach of the confidentiality that clients consider sacrosanct. In this regard, the Council is aligned. When asked about the most serious reputational threat facing the legal industry, cybersecurity breaches took the top spot.

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• AI misuse topped the reputational risk rankings in Q1 2026. AI is no longer treated as a discrete technical glitch but as a systemic risk multiplier that intensifies every other threat category. With regulation failing to keep pace, harmful applications—biased decision-making, AI-generated misinformation, deepfake impersonation—are now woven into the fabric of corporate and political life.

• 2026 has forced a reckoning in philanthropy. The sector can no longer coast on the assumption that it is simply "doing good." Serious lapses in judgment—including institutions and individuals who cultivated relationships with problematic donors like Jeffrey Epstein—have eroded public confidence, and philanthropy is increasingly viewed as asserting privilege rather than driving impact.

• Council members see a fundamental shift in how the public perceive charitable organizations. A majority (52%) believe the sector conceded too much ground under political pressure this quarter, compared with 41% who felt its response was appropriate. And 87% say philanthropy fails to adequately communicate the value of its work—pointing to a clear reputational opportunity the sector has yet to seize.

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• The Q4 2025 Reputation Risk Index covers a transformative period in which rapid technological advancement and political volatility have made traditional risk management approaches obsolete. 

• As identified by members of the Global Risk Advisory Council, the misuse of artificial intelligence has emerged as the primary reputational threat, acting as a systemic force that exacerbates issues ranging from fraud to public health misinformation. 

• This report also examines other top risks plaguing companies, from political targeting to data privacy violations. It also highlights the global health sector's challenges, defined by declining public trust and supply chain vulnerabilities.

Read the Q3 report

• At a time of unprecedented political polarization, the latest Index reveals a clear consensus that the greatest threat to corporate reputation concerns the whims of one man: U.S. President Donald Trump.

• While disinformation topped the Q2 report, it was notably absent from this quarter's report. Issues relating to the proliferation of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) remain top-of-mind, with data privacy, IP infringement, and antitrust all charting in the top 10 for Q3.

• In response to our Q3 survey, members of our Global Risk Advisory Council highlighted that AI-driven risks operate fundamentally differently from traditional technology threats. Unlike conventional challenges, AI-enabled attacks can inflict maximum damage in a hyper-accelerated timeframe.

  • When asked to rank the most concerning risks associated with the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, members of the Council cited the technology’s ability to spread false information at scale as the top risk.  

Read the Q2 Report here

• At a time of unprecedented transatlantic trade tensions, a new Global Risk Advisory Council survey reveals a growing gap in the reputational risks companies are facing on either side of the Atlantic. 

• The Q2 Reputation Risk Index shows the top threat confronting companies is disinformation, driven in many cases by polarized political agendas that are increasingly ensnaring the private sector.

• Yet, the Council of over 100 preeminent public affairs leaders finds European firms are more vulnerable to perceived deviation from social responsibilities like climate and anticompetitiveness.

• In the United States, political issues like association with Elon Musk and DEI backtracking continued to top the Index.

Read the Q1 Report Here

• Recent reputational risks rated as the most severe were AI misuse, association with or criticism from Elon Musk and DEI backtracking.

• 86% believe reputational risks will increase over the next quarter (rating of 6+ on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being a significant decrease and 10 being a significant increase in risk). 

• In the coming months, Council experts from around the world will be monitoring reputational risks related to technology, DEI programs, and geopolitical uncertainties, specifically the shift from traditional U.S. policies and approaches from the Trump administration.