# International AI Safety Report 2026 — Evidence Base Without U.S. Endorsement

Times of AI Desk · 2026-02-03 · Policy

[https://timesof.ai/2026/02/international-ai-safety-report-2026-published-bengio](https://timesof.ai/2026/02/international-ai-safety-report-2026-published-bengio)

> Second International AI Safety Report published Feb 3, chaired by Yoshua Bengio with 100+ experts and nominees from 30+ countries. Frontier capability/risk synthesis for policymakers—no specific policy prescriptions. U.S. declined to endorse the final version (TIME/Bengio); timed ahead of New Delhi AI Impact Summit.

As labs ship agentic long-context systems, independent multi-national assessments become reference points—or political flashpoints. The proprietary tension in the 2026 edition: **largest scientific synthesis yet**, and the **United States withholding endorsement** of the final text.

**International AI Safety Report 2026** published February 3 (DSIT 2026/001), chaired by Turing Award winner **Yoshua Bengio**, with contributions from over **100** experts and an advisory panel nominated by more than **30** countries/organizations. Scope: “emerging risks” at the frontier of general-purpose AI; updates prior assessments with capability-trajectory research including OECD and Forecasting Research Institute scenario work. Core: rapidly improving capabilities and uncertainty on scale/timing; risk-management methods improving but **insufficient for some frontier scenarios**; expert disagreement on AI-assisted research automation and predictability of capability jumps. Explicitly **does not** make specific policy recommendations and does not speak for any single government or the full expert group—goal is an evidence base for policymakers. **U.S. position**: Bengio confirmed the United States declined to back the final report (unlike prior edition), after providing draft feedback—TIME reporting Feb 2–3. Timed ahead of the **AI Impact Summit** in New Delhi.

## Claims vs checks

Publication date, chair, expert scale, and non-prescriptive mandate are **report primary**. U.S. non-endorsement is **Bengio statement via TIME**—diplomatic, not a scientific rebuttal of chapters. Treat disagreement sections as features of the method, not bugs to flatten.

## Limits

- Synthesis ≠ audit of any one lab’s system card.
- Non-endorsement reasons are political; the report text still stands for readers.
- Forecasts and scenarios carry wide uncertainty bands by design.

## Sources

- [International AI Safety Report 2026](https://internationalaisafetyreport.org/publication/international-ai-safety-report-2026) (3 February 2026). Primary. Bengio et al., DSIT 2026/001.
- TIME: “U.S. Withholds Support From Global AI Safety Report” (Feb 2–3, 2026 context).
- Report foreword/methodology: expert panel, lead writers, scope limitations.