The Future of Life Institute released the Summer 2026 edition of its AI Safety Index this month, and the headline number is the one worth remembering: the highest overall grade awarded to any of the nine leading AI companies evaluated was a C+. OpenAI earned a C at 2.28, Google DeepMind a C at 2.01, and Meta a D+ at 1.32. It is the observation that four of the industry’s safety leaders — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta — have weakened or voided their pledges to pause development unilaterally if their systems approach specified danger thresholds. Russell put the implication plainly in remarks accompanying the report: “While there is good work being done on AI safety in the industry, the capabilities race has become more extreme. No company exceeded a C- in that domain, and the best grade awarded — a D+ — went to Anthropic and OpenAI.