Tech
Second ever international AI safety report published | Computer Weekly
The overall trajectory of general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) systems remains “deeply uncertain”, even as the technology’s proliferation is generating new empirical evidence about its impacts, the second International AI safety report has found.
Published on 3 February 2026, the report covers a wide range of threats posed by AI systems – from its impact on jobs, human autonomy and the environment to the potential for malfunctions or malicious use – that will be used to inform diplomatic discussions at the upcoming India AI Impact Summit.
Building on the previous report, released in January 2025, which was commissioned following the inaugural AI Safety Summit, hosted by the UK government at Bletchley Park in November 2023, the latest report similarly highlights a high degree of uncertainty around how AI systems will develop, and the kinds of mitigations that would be effective against a range of challenges.
“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,” it says, adding that the systemic data on the prevalence and severity of AI-related harms remains limited for the vast majority of risks.
“Whether current safeguards will be sufficiently effective for more capable systems is unclear,” it adds. “Together, these gaps define the limits of what any current assessment can confidently claim.”
It further notes that while general-purpose AI capabilities have improved in the past year through “inference-time scaling” (a technique that allows models to use more computing power to generate intermediate steps before giving a final answer), the overall picture remains “jagged”, with leading systems excelling at some difficult tasks while failing at simpler ones.
On AI’s further development to 2030, the authors say plausible scenarios vary dramatically.
“Progress could plateau near current capability levels, slow, remain steady, or accelerate dramatically in ways that are difficult to anticipate,” it says, adding that while “unprecedented” investment commitments suggest major AI developers expect continued capability gains, unforeseen technical limits – including energy constraints, high-quality data scarcity and bottlenecks in chip production – 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,” it says. “This uncertainty reflects the difficulty of forecasting a technology whose impacts depend on unpredictable technical breakthroughs, shifting economic conditions and varied institutional responses.”
Systemic impacts
Regarding the systemic impact on labour markets, the report notes that there is disagreement on the magnitude of future impacts, with some expecting job losses to be offset by new job creation, and others arguing that widespread adoption would significantly reduce both employment and wages.
It adds that while it is too soon for a definitive assessment of the impacts, early evidence suggests junior positions in fields like writing and translation are most at risk.
Relatedly, it says that there were also risks presented by systems of human autonomy, in the sense that reliance on AI tools can weaken critical thinking skills and memory, while also encouraging automation bias.
“This relates to a broader trend of ‘cognitive offloading’ – the act of delegating cognitive tasks to external systems or people, reducing one’s own cognitive engagement and therefore ability to act with autonomy,” it says. “Cognitive offloading can free up cognitive resources and improve efficiency, but research also indicates potential long-term effects on the development and maintenance of cognitive skills.
As an example, the report notes one study that found a clinician’s ability to detect tumours without AI assistance had dropped by 6%, just three months after the introduction of AI support.
On the implications for income and wealth inequality, it says general-purpose systems could widen the disparities both within and between countries.
“AI adoption may shift earnings from labour to capital owners, such as shareholders of firms that develop or use AI,” it says. “Globally, high-income countries with skilled workforces and strong digital infrastructure are likely to capture AI’s benefits faster than low-income economies.
“One study estimates that AI’s impact on economic growth in advanced economies could be more than twice that of in low-income countries. AI could also reduce incentives to offshore labour-intensive services by making domestic automation more cost-effective, potentially limiting traditional development paths.”
The prediction that AI is likely to exacerbate inequality by reducing the share of all income that goes to workers relative to capital owners is in line with a January 2024 assessment of AI’s impacts on inequality by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which found the technology will “likely worsen overall inequality” if policymakers do not proactively work to prevent it from stoking social tensions.
JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon expressed similar concerns at the 2026 World Economic Forum, warning that the rapid roll-out of AI throughout society will cause “civil unrest” unless governments and companies work together to mitigate its effect on job markets.
Malfunction and loss control issues
On AI’s scope for malicious use – which covers threats such as cyber attacks, its potential for “influence and manipulation”, and the impacts of AI-generated content – the report says it “remains difficult to assess” due to a lack of systemic data on their prevalence and severity, despite harms profiteering.
For malfunction risks, which includes challenges around the reliability of AI and loss of human control over it, the report adds that agentic systems that can act autonomously are making it harder for humans to intervene before failures occur, and could allow “dangerous capabilities” to go undetected before deployment.
However, it says that while AI systems are not yet capable of creating loss of control scenarios, there is currently not enough evidence to determine when or how they would pass this threshold.
Evidence chasms
According to the report, it is clear that more research is needed to understand the prevalence of different risks and how much they vary across different regions of the world, especially in regions such as Asia, Africa and Latin America that are rapidly digitising.
“There is a lack of evidence on: how to measure the severity, prevalence, and timeframe of emerging risks; the extent to which these risks can be mitigated in real-world contexts; and how to effectively encourage or enforce mitigation adoption across diverse actors,” it says.
“Certain risk mitigations are growing in popularity, but more research is needed to understand how robust risk mitigations and safeguards are in practice for different communities and AI actors (including for small and medium-sized enterprises).
“Further, risk management efforts currently vary highly across leading AI companies,” it continues. “It has been argued that developers’ incentives are not well-aligned with thorough risk assessment and management.”
The report notes that while AI companies have made a number of voluntary commitments by tech firms – including the Frontier AI Safety Commitments voluntarily made by AI firms and the Seoul Declaration for safe, innovative and inclusive AI signed by governments at the AI summit in Seoul – there is a further evidence gap around “the degree to which different voluntary commitments are being met, what obstacles companies face in adhering fully to commitments, and how they are integrating … safety frameworks into broader AI risk management practices”.
The report adds that key challenges include determining how to prioritise the diverse risks posed by general-purpose AI, clarifying which actors are best positioned to mitigate them, and understanding the incentives and constraints that shape each of their actions.
“Evidence indicates that policymakers currently have limited access to information about how AI developers and deployers are testing, evaluating and monitoring emerging risks, and about the effectiveness of different mitigation practices,” it says.
While the 2025 safety report goes into more detail on risks around AI-related discrimination and its propensity to reproduce negative social biases, the 2026 report only touches on this briefly, noting that “some researchers have argued that most technical approaches to pluralistic alignment fail to address, and potentially distract from, deeper challenges, such as systematic biases, social power dynamics, and the concentration of wealth and influence”.
Although the 2025 report notes “a holistic and participatory approach that includes a variety of perspectives and stakeholders is essential to mitigate bias”, the 2026 report only says that open source approaches are critical to “enabling global majority participation in AI development”.
“Without such access, communities in low-resource regions risk exclusion from AI’s benefits,” it says, adding that allowing downstream developers to fine-tune models for diverse applications that, for example, adapt them for under-resourced minority languages or optimise performance for specific purposes “can allow more people and communities to use and benefit from AI than would otherwise be possible”.
By early October, the ICE surge team was working through the government shutdown, even as other critical government work was put on hold. Days after the shutdown began, GSA was still awarding leases. On October 6, 2025, a signed internal memorandum stated that GSA should “approve of all new lease housing determinations associated with ICE hiring surge,” in light of ICE’s “urgent” space requirements and the purported impact of delays on the agency’s ability to “meet critical immigration enforcement deadlines.”
On October 9, the same day that Trump announced in a cabinet meeting that the government would be making “permanent” cuts from “Democrat programs” during the shutdown, GSA received a list from OPLA with requests for office locations, including expansions and new leases, in 41 cities around the country.
In a memorandum dated October 29, 2025, a representative from Homeland Security Investigations—one of the two major departments within ICE, along with ERO, and tasked with a wide range of investigative work in cases ranging from human trafficking to art theft—asked GSA’s office of general counsel to engage in nationwide lease acquisition on behalf of DHS “using the unusual and compelling urgency justification,” in accordance with Trump’s executive immigration order.
“If HSI cannot effectively obtain office space in a timely manner, HSI will be adversely impacted in accomplishing its mission—a mission that is inextricably tied to the Administration’s priority in protecting the American People Against Invasion,” the memorandum states.
By early November, according to documents viewed by WIRED, 19 projects had been awarded in cities around the US, including Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Sacramento, California; and Tampa, Florida. Multiple projects were days away from being awarded in Miami, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New Orleans, Louisiana, among others, and emergency requests for short-term space had been made in eight cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newark, New Jersey.
In documents viewed by WIRED, ICE has repeatedly outlined its expansion to cities around the US. The September memorandum citing “unusual and compelling urgency” for office expansion states that OPLA will be “expanding its legal operations” into Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; Louisville, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Grand Rapids, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Long Island, New York; Columbus, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Richmond, Virginia; Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The memorandum also states that the existing offices are at maximum capacity and will “require additional space” to accommodate the new employees hired. At the time, the memo states that OPLA had selected almost 1,000 attorneys to hire.
Months after the “surge” began, ICE’s expansion to American cities is well underway, according to documentation viewed by WIRED. The table below gives a detailed listing of planned ICE lease locations as of January, and includes current ICE offices that are set to expand and new spaces the agency is poised to occupy. It does not include more than 100 planned ICE locations across many states—including California, New York, and New Jersey—where WIRED has not viewed every specific address.
Top 6 Gaming Laptops Compared
Other Gaming Laptops to Consider
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Alienware 16X Aurora for $1,970: Alienware has lost some focus with its gaming laptops recently, but its latest refresh feels like a return to form. The Alienware 16X Aurora (7/10, WIRED Recommends) sits in the middle of the lineup, attempting to offer the right balance of performance, premium features, and price. At its current price, it nails that walk across the tightrope. Though it isn’t flashy, the design is understated yet refined. And while there are cheaper ways to get RTX 5060-level performance, the bright, color-accurate IPS display is a great upgrade, as is the premium touchpad. All in all, the Alienware 16X Aurora ended up being my favorite Alienware gaming laptop in years. It’s too expensive at retail price, so wait for a discount on this one.
MSI Titan 18 HX for $5,200: Power. It’s what PC gamers want most, right? Well, if that’s you, and you don’t have a budget, get the MSI Titan 18 HX (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It sets the definition for “large and in charge.” This machine is blinged out with tons of advanced features like a mechanical keyboard, an invisible haptic-feedback touchpad, and plenty of RGB lighting. The touchpad wasn’t my favorite, but typing and gaming on the mechanical keyboard is an absolute joy. There are a few other 18-inch laptops to consider, like the updated Alienware 18 Area-51 or the Razer Blade 18. But the incredible 4K+ mini-LED display is something you can’t get on another 18-inch laptop. Games look gorgeous on it, and thanks to the RTX 5090, you can play AAA games at that native resolution at decent frame rates. This MSI is a beast of a laptop, so don’t try to take it with you on a work trip. Trust me.
Asus ROG Z13 for $2,300: There’s nothing else quite like the ROG Flow Z13 (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s a 2-in-1 laptop, not unlike the Surface Pro, but this one’s intended specifically for gaming. That might sound like a contradiction—or maybe just a bad idea. But amazingly, the ROG Flow Z13 has created a new product category in gaming over the past few years, and continues to exist alone in it. By putting all the components behind the screen instead of under the keyboard, the ROG Flow Z13 directs all that hot air away from your hands. That’s always an issue with gaming laptops, no matter how loud or thick they are. And yet, with the ROG Flow Z13, the keyboard always stays completely cool. This year’s model uses an interesting new CPU, too: the AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395, which has a massive integrated graphics chip onboard that’s even faster than discrete graphics like the RTX 4060. In my testing, I was quite satisfied with the system’s performance in games, especially given how quiet it stays and how long the battery life is. It’s expensive, but it’s also incredibly unique.
What Makes a Great Gaming Laptop?
Picking the right gaming laptop can be a delicate balance. The raw power you typically find in gaming desktops takes a lot of energy, and when you put that in a laptop, it can drain the battery fast. Similarly, the superfast refresh rates in gaming monitors can lead to even more power drain. If you plan to keep your laptop plugged in most of the time, you can lean toward more powerful hardware. If you want to play on the battery more, balancing power with efficiency should be a priority.
Size is also a factor to consider. When you’re gaming at home, you might want the largest, brightest screen you can find, but when you have to carry that screen around, the bulk and weight can be a (quite literal) drag. If you plan to travel with your laptop, you might want to think about how much heft you’re willing to lug around.
No matter what, you should expect to make some sacrifices that aren’t as common with more typical laptops. It’s not unusual for a gaming laptop to last less than two hours when you start playing games on it. And unless you have a lot of (usually expensive) power under the hood, you might not be able to play some modern AAA games at their highest level the way you would on a desktop without spending a little time fiddling with the game’s graphics settings.
Specs to Look for in a Gaming Laptop
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with specs and numbers when you’re shopping for a gaming laptop, but there are a few key specs you can focus on to get the best bang for your buck. For additional help with all the different specifications on offer, check out our How to Buy a Laptop guide.
- RAM: Aim for a machine with at least 16 GB of RAM. While 8 GB of RAM is still workable for those who play less demanding games or have little desire for fancy graphics, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one on offer these days. The new minimum is 16 GB of RAM, and if you intend to play new AAA games, stepping up to 32 GB of RAM is a really good idea. The speed of your RAM can also be a factor. Currently, DDR5 is the best you’ll find, but you’ll start to see DDR6 replacing it over the next few years.
- CPU: When you want the fastest processor, newer is usually better. Intel is currently on its 14th generation of gaming CPUs, and AMD Ryzen is on the 8000 series. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, CPU benchmarks can help you get a sense of how powerful a processor is, but the best indicator is real-world testing (which we do on every laptop we feature). Soon, we’ll be getting the latest CPUs from AMD and Intel, which were announced at CES, and should be available over the coming months.
- Discrete GPU: As with the CPU, there are a lot of models out there that can get overwhelming to keep track of. Make sure whatever gaming laptop you buy has a discrete GPU—that means the graphics card is separate from the CPU. These days, Nvidia is the primary option, whether that’s the previous-gen RTX 40-series GPUs or the brand-new 50-series. You’ll be able to find a few gaming laptops with AMD GPUs out there, competing with its Radeon 7000 generation. These will often share similar names to their desktop counterparts, but most are technically running the “Laptop” version of the GPU, such as the RTX 5090 or 5080. Again, real-world testing is the best indicator of performance.
- Storage: Most laptops have solid-state drives nowadays, which are super fast and reduce load times considerably from the days of hard drives. Games can get massive, so we’d recommend at least a 1-TB internal drive, though if you can swing for 2 TB, you’ll have a lot more room for multiple AAA games. Fortunately, many gaming laptops still let you install more internal storage, so you may be able to expand that later for less money.
- Display: Most gaming laptop displays are in a 16:10 aspect ratio and start with a resolution of at least 1920 x 1200 with at least a 120-Hz refresh rate. You want something that matches the performance of the laptop’s GPU and the types of games you play. Competitive multiplayer gamers will want a higher refresh rate, while single-player gamers will benefit more from higher resolutions. There’s even next-gen display technology available, like mini-LED or OLED (even 3D!) screens that enable impressive HDR visuals and improved response times.
Which Laptop Brand Is Best for Gaming Laptops?
All of the major laptop manufacturers have gaming sub-brands these days. Just to name a few, Lenovo has Legion, Asus has ROG, Acer has Predator and Nitro, and Dell has Alienware. HP previously offered the Victus and Omen brands but will now sell under its HyperX sub-brand starting this year. These are a good place to start, especially if you’re looking for something more budget-friendly.
Asus has the most full-featured lineup, however, spanning high-powered juggernauts to gorgeous, slim models. Asus also offers some of the cheapest models with its TUF brand and some hyper-portable options in the ROG Flow line. MSI is another noteworthy brand, with dozens of models under various names denoting price and performance: Titan, Raider, Stealth, and Crosshair.
Beyond these sub-brands, let’s not forget about Razer. The company has earned its reputation for producing the most premium and well-built gaming laptops, often referred to as the MacBook of gaming laptops.
You will, however, find lots of unknown brands if you go shopping on Amazon for gaming laptops. Most are easy to write off based on specs alone, as they rarely even feature a discrete GPU. Avoid these at all costs, no matter how attractive the price is.
How Much Should I Spend on a Gaming Laptop?
For years, I didn’t recommend spending under $1,000 on a gaming laptop. Today, there are a few good options though. As you can see from our picks above (and from our list of the best cheap gaming laptops), there are a few great options under $1,000 thanks to some great discounts. You can find RTX 5050 laptops for cheaper, but be careful, as some serious compromises can be taken on these budget-minded devices.
On the other side, you can spend close to $5,000 on a top-tier model, sporting the latest RTX 5090 and loads of high-end features and specs. It’s also smart to buy a previous-gen gaming laptop with an RTX 40-series GPU onboard if you’re strapped for cash, though I wouldn’t buy anything older than that.
What Size Gaming Laptop Should You Buy?
Gaming laptops primarily come in three screen sizes: 14-inch, 16-inch, and 18-inch. There are also 15.6-inch displays in an old-school 16:9 aspect ratio, such as the Lenovo LOQ 15 listed above. The difference between these three sizes is pretty dramatic, both in terms of overall footprint and portability. Most people should buy a 16-inch gaming laptop, which tends to be the sweet spot. Many 16-inch gaming laptops still offer you the full range of performance, up to the latest CPUs and GPUs (including the RTX 5090), and even come with a wider range of display options, including OLED. Eighteen-inch gaming laptops tend to be gargantuan—not the kind of thing you want to move around much. The larger screen is great if you don’t ever intend to connect it to an external display or leave your home with it.
Meanwhile, 14-inch gaming laptops have become popular over the past few years, and they function best as a hybrid device. They tend to be sleek and minimalist, downplaying the gamer aesthetic for something more professional and buttoned-up. GPU options tend to be more limited at this size, but you can still get some surprisingly solid performance out of these laptops, depending on the configuration. They tend to get better battery life, too.
Is OLED on Gaming Laptops Worth It?
In a word, yes. OLED has a number of benefits for PC gaming. The extreme contrast of OLED allows the display to excel in HDR performance. HDR really brings games to life, brightening up highlights and deepening shadows. Now, it should be mentioned that the current OLED panels being used on gaming laptops aren’t as bright as the best OLED gaming monitors, which can hit over 1,000 nits of peak HDR brightness. But you still get the HDR effect with the brightness on offer on these OLED gaming laptops.
We’re seeing OLED available for both 14-inch and 16-inch gaming laptops, but not on 18-inch laptops just yet. OLED provides aid for more competitive gamers, offering less input lag than on IPS or Mini-LED. It’s totally worth it. Increasingly, it’s becoming more standard on premium gaming laptops, meaning you won’t always need to make the hard choice between a faster GPU and a better screen.
Gaming Laptops to Avoid
Ideally, you should stay away from anything older than RTX 40-series GPUs. Because laptops are not upgradeable in terms of graphics, you’ll want to buy something at least somewhat recent. Even the RTX 40-series GPUs have been out for a while. So, you’re still potentially getting something two years old. You won’t find many RTX 30-series GPUs for much cheaper than 40-series laptops anyway. Here are a few older recommendations that aren’t worth it anymore.
Acer Nitro 5 for $1,098: This is an older machine, and it was a great budget gaming laptop for a while. There are other laptops you can find around this price, like the Acer Nitro V 16 we recommend above. It has an RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512-GB SSD.
Acer Swift X 14 for $1,300: If portability is your top priority, the Swift X 14 (6/10, WIRED Review) is a nice option with good performance, thanks to its RTX 4070 graphics card and Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. Unfortunately, it runs very hot, and the fan spins almost all the time.
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February 2026
Three times a week in Computer Weekly’s French sister title, LeMagIT, cartoonist François Cointe treats readers to his gentle and funny cartoons, which wonderfully recount the adventures and misadventures of IT in the corporate world. François is very popular in France, and we’re delighted to bring his humour to an English-speaking audience. Download and enjoy.
Table Of Contents
- The dark side: To manage IT projects, it is not enough to study best practices; there is also a dark side to IT, the side of bugs… The side of projects that stall, IT specialists who burn out, and budgets that get bogged down. Le MagIT explores this side in its thematic guides through drawings, fantasy, and humour, knowing that what is funny, of course, only happens to others.
- A retrospective look: Technologies change and progress, but people do not. Remembering what didn’t work is a way of anticipating what won’t work tomorrow. So, to remember the passing of time and the bugs that fade away, here is our 15th album, a retrospective of the year 2025 through the drawings published in Le MagIT.
- The growing AI bubble: Well, 2025 was a turbulent year! But, unperturbed by geopolitical upheavals, punitive and erratic customs duties, and brutalised sovereignties, the AI bubble inflated throughout the year, attracting capital and energy. And with it, a nagging question? It’s growing, it’s growing, but what will this mountain give birth to?
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