AI Safety Trumps US Competitiveness in New Corporate Survey

Corporate leaders, institutional investors, and the American public all rank AI safety and security as a higher priority than maintaining U.S. competitive advantage in artificial intelligence, according to the latest quarterly survey from Just Capital.

The research, which tracked attitudes across all three groups for a fourth consecutive quarter, found that 53% of corporate leaders, 58% of investors, and 49% of the general public identify safety and security as their top AI concern—outweighing worries about competition and economic growth. This consistency across four quarters of polling suggests a durable consensus around the need for guardrails in AI development.

The spending gap

Despite widespread agreement on safety's importance, a significant disconnect exists between stated priorities and actual resource allocation. Nearly two-thirds of the public (64%) and a majority of investors (56%) believe companies should dedicate more than 5% of their AI investment to safety measures.

Yet only 22% of corporate leaders report their organizations actually meet that threshold. Two-thirds of executives (65%) acknowledge their companies currently allocate 5% or less of AI budgets to safety.

Shared responsibility for AI control

The survey reveals Americans hold both AI developers and the companies deploying AI systems nearly equally accountable for safety outcomes. Should humans lose control of an AI system, 79% of respondents would assign responsibility to the companies building it, while 77% would blame the organizations using it. Government receives responsibility from 69% of respondents.

In scenarios involving erosion of human oversight, 76% hold deploying companies responsible compared to 74% for developers—a near-even split that suggests the public sees AI safety as a shared obligation across the technology supply chain.

Public support for international cooperation

In a supplementary poll, two-thirds of Americans (67%) said the United States and China should collaborate on AI safety, including 64% of Republicans. When asked to identify the bigger threat, 52% named AI itself compared to 32% who cited China.

Notably, 51% of Americans believe the U.S. should implement comprehensive safety regulations even if China declines to cooperate—indicating support for unilateral action when necessary.

Disclosure remains limited

Just Capital's analysis of Russell 1000 companies found minimal public reporting on AI safety commitments. Only 10% of these large corporations disclose policies explicitly addressing harm prevention, deception, or manipulation. Just 14% publish principles mentioning human oversight or maintaining humans in decision-making loops.

Why it matters

The persistent gap between safety priorities and actual spending reveals a critical vulnerability in corporate AI governance. As enterprises race to deploy AI systems, the mismatch between public expectations and corporate investment could erode trust and invite regulatory intervention. For business leaders, the data suggests that transparent communication about safety measures—backed by meaningful resource commitments—represents both a reputational imperative and a competitive differentiator in an increasingly skeptical market.

These findings were first reported by Just Capital, which surveyed 128 institutional investors, 104 corporate executives, and 1,000 U.S. adults between July and September 2026.