Majority of Americans Now More Worried Than Excited About AI, Pew Research Shows

Not an AI Optimist? You're With the Majority of Americans

New polls from Pew Research, CNBC, and YouGov show that the majority of Americans think AI development is moving too fast and are concerned about its future. As TechCrunch reports, this is an increase over last year, suggesting that even as AI becomes more integrated into our day-to-day lives, many are increasingly worried. The latest Pew Research study found that 52% of polled Americans were "more concerned than excited" about AI. That's a two percent rise over last year's poll. It also found that 37% said they were equally excited and concerned, with 9% saying they were more excited than concerned, both down 1% year on year. The result is more pronounced when broken down by age. Pew Research highlights that among those aged 18-19, 55% are now more concerned, up from 30% in 2022. A CNBC poll offers a similar diagnosis of the American mood toward AI through the lens of the people in charge. Adults aged 18 to 34 were asked whether they trusted various AI leaders, and in almost all cases, over two-thirds said they didn't trust any of them. Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jensen Huang were not to be trusted, according to 70% of respondents, while 79% said the same about Peter Thiel and 81% about Alex Karp. YouGov's latest polling also shows that 71% of Americans believe AI development is moving too fast. This was most pronounced among Democrat voters and over-65s, at 77% and 79%, respectively. It found 64% of 18-29-year-olds said the same. A majority of Americans said they believed AI would be unlikely to create significant economic gains that benefit everyone, and that they were worried AI would replace jobs they or their families depend on. It also found that 51% are pessimistic about AI's future and its effect on society, while 25% are optimistic. Americans have been worried about AI and linked job losses ever since the advent of ChatGPT in 2022, but more time with the tech and its advancements haven't made the majority like the tech more. At least for now, it doesn't seem like AI companies are winning the battle for positive public perception.

More than half of Americans now view AI negatively

Attitudes towards AI are shifting in America. More than half of adults now say that they are more concerned than excited about the technology, and that includes those under 30 for the first time. This comes from a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, which says that concerns over potential job losses caused by AI are the main factor influencing opinion. It found that 71 percent of US adults think AI will lead to fewer jobs in their country over the next two decades, up from 64 percent two years ago. And just 5 percent believe the optimists who say AI will lead to more jobs. 10 percent think it won't make much difference, and a slightly larger share are unsure. The non-profit think tank says that worries have been expressed about employment ever since it started asking this AI question back in 2021, but back then, more people were excited (or a mix of excitement and concern) than were concerned by the technology. Since those days, the number who were more excited has halved (18 percent to 9 percent) while those with issues have now risen to 52 percent. They could be right - Forrester Research was forecasting earlier this year that AI and automation could erase 6.1 percent of jobs in the US by 2030. The situation is even more stark among young adults, where 55 percent of those aged 18 to 29 are now concerned, up from less than a third in 2021. Their concern is now on a par with those in their 30s and 40s, and those aged 65 and up. Across most age groups the trend has been for Americans to increasingly foresee job losses from the use of AI in business. Pew points out that 73 percent of adults under 30 now say AI will lead to fewer jobs, up from 61 percent two years ago. Perhaps this isn't surprising, as AI automation is often pitched as a replacement for some of the entry-level roles that workers in the under 30 age bracket are likely to be starting out with. Americans 65 and older are a bit less likely to think AI will lead to fewer jobs in this latest survey, but this remains the majority view among this age group. Adults under 30 are also more likely to think AI will be bad for society. They believe it will make connecting with others more difficult and creativity harder to come by, according to Pew. While most young adults say they use chatbots, they are just as likely to say that these tools hurt their creativity as help it. Perhaps US workers can take some comfort from Anthropic, which says that AI is not eliminating as many jobs as experts had predicted. Or else move to China, where a court has ruled that it is illegal to replace human workers with AI. ®

Pew survey: 52% of Americans now more concerned than excited about AI

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. The takeaway: Artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere these days, but public attitudes toward the technology are changing. For some, the excitement surrounding AI has given way to outright concern, but will the industry take notice and take steps to ease worry? A recent report from the Pew Research Center reveals that more than half of US adults - 52%, to be exact - are "more concerned than excited" about the increased use of artificial intelligence in daily life. That is up from just 37% who answered the same way in 2021 when Pew first asked the question. Only nine percent of those polled in 2026 said they were more excited than concerned over what AI brings to the table. Back in 2021, nearly one in five - 18% - said they were more excited than concerned. Roughly a third of the US adult population - 37% - said they were equally concerned and excited about AI. Job loss is a leading worry among concerned citizens. In the latest survey, which was conducted June 22-28 of this year, 71% of Americans said they believe AI will lead to fewer jobs for humans over the next 20 years. When the same question was asked two years ago, only 64% of Americans thought AI would lead to less jobs in the workforce. Only five percent of respondents were optimistic on the topic and believe AI will lead to more jobs for humans in the next two decades. Also interesting is the fact that age no longer seems to play a role in this question, as worry about job loss now shows up across all polled demographics. Younger people, however, have their own concerns with AI. As recent studies have shown, younger adults tend to view AI negatively overall and feel it could hamper creativity and their ability to foster relationships. In a September 2025 Pew study, 61% of young adults said AI could harm their ability to think creatively and 43% felt it would make solving problems more difficult.

People From 50- to 61-Years-Old Are Reportedly the Least Freaked Out by AI

One of the ways Pew Research has been gauging American attitudes about AI for the past few years is by asking this question that measures people's excitement against their concern. They started asking this in 2021, in the pre-ChatGPT days, and in the latest survey six years later, Americans in general are less excited than ever -- and also tied for the most concerned ever. But one group is trending the opposite direction from the rest: people in the 50-64 age range, a group that mostly -- though not entirely -- overlaps with what we call Generation-X, which by my math is people who are 46-61. According to Pew's latest findings, the majority of Americans are more concerned than excited, at 52%. Pew's 2021 survey that used the same question found that 37% were more concerned than excited. The standout finding in the latest study according to Pew is that among adults under 30 years-old, 55% are more concerned than excited -- the first time the youngs have been so pessimistic in this survey, but other, related surveys of young people have produced similar findings lately. But it's the 50- to 64-year-olds I find the most interesting. They were the only group a majority of whom didn't give the "more concerned than excited" response -- though to be clear, only 8% gave the "more excited than concerned" answer, so let's not act like this group wants to kiss a chatbot or something. What's more, fewer and fewer respondents in this age group have been answering "more concerned than excited" in each of the past four surveys. It was 59% in 2023 (the second highest among the groups), 56% in 2024, and 52% in 2025. Oddly, among 50- to 64-year-old respondents, Pew notes that 69% believed there would be "fewer jobs" over the next 20 years in 2024, and that percentage is actually up in 2026. It's now 72%. It's worth keeping in mind that according to Pew's methodology this isn't a single group of people being asked the same questions over and over. There are new recruits each year. Even if it were the same people, Pew is labeling them by age at the time they're being surveyed, so the same person could theoretically have been in last year's group of 30- to 49-year-olds, and this year's group of 50- to 64-year-olds. And even though the trend in this group's answers over time is a little out of step with the rest of the age groups, their answers aren't massively different from the rest when taken as a whole. Still, it's a puzzling quirk worth exploring.

Most Americans under 30 are now more worried than excited about AI

A majority of American under-30s are now more concerned than excited by AI, and the European Commission's own survey finds displacement fears concentrated in the same age group Pew found that 55% of Americans under 30 are now more concerned than excited about AI, the first majority since it began asking in 2021, with 73% expecting fewer jobs. A European Commission survey found displacement fears highest among younger, lower-income and less-educated workers. Americans under 30 have changed their minds about AI. For the first time since Pew began asking in 2021, a majority of them, 55%, say they are more concerned than excited about it. The job numbers moved faster. Almost three-quarters of that group, 73%, expect AI to mean fewer jobs over the next two decades, up from 61% two years ago, and only 5% of Americans think it will create more. The reversal is what makes this notable. This was the age group most taken with the technology, and it is now among the most sceptical, while overall concern has climbed from 37% in 2021 to 52%. Europe is not a calmer picture, it is the same one. A European Commission survey of 18 member states this spring found fear of AI-driven job displacement highest among younger, lower-income and less-educated respondents. The same people are the heaviest users. Students reported the largest time savings of any group at nine hours a month, in a cohort where half already use chatbots for personal conversations. Adoption across the bloc is broad but shallow at work. Around 54% of EU respondents use AI in some form, while roughly 27% of workers use it for their job. The hiring evidence is starting to catch up with the sentiment. A Harvard study found AI-native startups hire fewer juniors and more experienced staff, which is the mechanism people in their twenties are worried about. Pew's data hints at the same asymmetry. Workers already established in their careers have grown more positive about AI, which fits the argument that it rewards experience rather than replacing it. That leaves the entry route as the pressure point. The internship and the junior role are how careers have historically started, and both are being squeezed first. Causation remains genuinely unsettled. The AI boom arrived alongside a weaker labour market, and at least one study argues weak hiring is doing more damage to young workers than AI is. What is settled is the sentiment, and it is now a business problem. The people companies most want to hire into AI-heavy roles are the ones who most expect the technology to remove those roles.

Over half of Americans are concerned about AI in daily life -- with tech leaders and AI gurus desperately trying to calm the number one fear

* New research shows the majority of Americans are concerned about AI * The main fear continues to be job replacement over the next 20 years * Tech leaders and AI gurus are doing their best to quell the flames of fear It's no secret that millions of Americans have their fair share of concerns about AI, especially when it's escaping testing and wreaking havoc, or being used to produce deepfakes of women and children. A new poll by Pew Research has found the majority of Americans are now more concerned than excited about AI in daily life, with the youngest adults in America rapidly shifting their opinion over the last five years. The biggest fear for most people? Job replacement, as despite the best efforts of tech leaders and AI gurus, this remains a significant concern - especially for young people. Opinions on AI are rapidly changing, and not for the better If we go back just a few years to 2024, the percentage of people fearing AI would lead to fewer jobs was 64%. But now that number has jumped up to 71%. This is especially the case in younger demographics, with 63% of those under 30 fearing job replacement in 2024 compared to 73% now. And where you may expect something of a difference between the youngest and oldest adults in the US, their views are actually fairly aligned. Job replacement is the main concern for a majority of those in the 65+ bracket, although they fear it just slightly less. The excitement around AI is dipping as well. In 2021, people under 30 had at least some level of optimism about AI. 25% said they were more excited about AI than concerned. That number has now dropped to 11%. Similarly, those under 30 who were more concerned than excited about AI has risen from 31% in 2021, to 55% in 2026. But tech leaders and AI gurus the world over are doing their best to try and calm the fears of job replacement, although it hasn't been very effective. Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman both in the same breath admitted the company was wrong about the social and economic implications of AI, while also downplaying claims of an impending "jobs apocalypse" Elsewhere, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that a spate of AI-related layoffs throughout the first half of 2026 was just CEO's using AI as an easy excuse to get rid of staff. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has completely flipped the script by arguing that "AI is going to create a labor shortage," and that new jobs will emerge in new areas. Where are these areas, and what industries would they serve? No one knows - but apparently they're coming. Even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has jumped in the hypewagon with a near-incomprehensible tirade on how Meta is the only mega corporation with the power to use AI and 'superintelligence' to benefit the good of all mankind (so long as that mankind is American). He also echoed Bezos' remarks on unknown new industries and jobs, but added that the ways you can use superintelligence "to help achieve your goals is unlimited," whatever that means. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Young adults are losing faith in AI's upside

By the numbers: About 55% of adults under 30 say they're more concerned than excited about AI, a 24-point increase from 2021, when Pew first started asking the question. * Roughly 1 in ten say they're more excited about AI embedded in daily life, while a third feel both equally. * That's more in line with other age groups: 51% of adults ages 30-49 feel more concerned, as do 47% of those ages 50-64 and 59% of those 65 and older. Zoom in: Seventy-three percent of adults under 30 say they expect AI will take away jobs over the next two decades, up from 61% in 2024. * That's comparable to the 71% of adults who think the same, up from 64% in 2024. * The 65+ age group is the least likely to think AI will reduce jobs, with 63% saying so, a five-point increase from 2024. Catch up quick: About 27% of Americans aged 18 to 34 believe they or someone they know has lost a job due to AI, according to a new Axios-Generation Lab poll. * Hiring of younger white-collar workers has slowed, with unemployment among college graduates under 29 increasing 3.1% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 3.7% since 2022. Reality check: Research indicates AI job losses happen far less often than people think, but alarming headlines and predictions of an impending job-loss bloodbath are clearly influencing the bad vibes. * Some reporting indicates remote work -- and employers being less inclined to train young, inexperienced workers -- might instead be contributing to lower hiring among young white-collar workers. The bottom line: Adults under 30 are the most likely to say AI will be harmful to society and themselves, and largely think it'll make connection and creativity more scarce. * Wall Street might be pumped about AI's potential, but Americans are warier about the technology than ever. Methodology: Pew surveyed 3,488 U.S. adults from June 22 to June 28, 2026. Go deeper: Youth poll: Thumbs down on everything

The AI Industry Has Fumbled Its Public Image So Badly That It's Incredible

Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech In theory, the AI industry should have a very attractive story for the public: automate away drudgery and free everyone up to do the things they really love. In practice, they've bungled that layup narrative in favor of alternate fearmongering and out-of-touch outbursts that have alienated an incredible chunk of the population. And, crucially, public sentiment seems to be moving in exactly the wrong direction. The more Americans find out about the tech's effects on the environment, the labor market, creativity, and human connection, the more they want it out of their lives. According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, the prevalence of AI skepticism is skyrocketing. A staggering 52 percent of Americans are now "more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life," up from just 37 percent in 2021 -- meaning that the more people see of AI, the less they trust it. The new survey, which was conducted in June and includes responses from 3,488 US adults, highlights just how wary the average American has become of the tech encroaching their life. It's been over three and a half years since OpenAI launched ChatGPT -- and the disillusionment over the tech has never been more apparent. A key subject weighing on the public are ongoing fears over AI leading to major job losses, concerns industry leaders have voiced for quite some time now. A whopping 71 percent of respondents said they think "AI will lead to fewer jobs in the United States over the next two decades." In comparison, only five percent said they believe that AI will lead to more jobs. It's also striking how unenthusiastic young people are about the tech. The Pew poll found that for the first time, more than half of people under 30 say they're more fearful than excited about the tech. Just last week, a survey conducted by CNBC's Generation Labs found that adults aged between 18 and 34 said they "don't trust" any of nine top AI CEOs. The abysmal approval ratings, paired with Pew's latest poll, show just how tarnished the AI industry's public image has become. Now that the sense of wonderment over a potentially revolutionary new tech has subsided, companies have their work cut out to win the public back over. More on AI and opposition: Young People Hate AI CEOs So Passionately That It's Almost Hard to Believe

AI has failed to win people's trust. Its makers? Even less trusted

Surveys on both sides of the Atlantic reveal a public more wary than wowed by AI, with distrust extending well beyond the technology and onto the tech executives promoting it. Despite its rapid technological advances, AI still has not won people over. A new study by Pew Research shows that 52% of Americans are now more concerned than excited about its growing presence in daily life -- up sharply from 37% in 2021. Just 9% feel more excited than concerned, while the remaining 37% are torn evenly between the two. That unease is even more pronounced among younger generations. For the first time since Pew began tracking the question, 55% of adults under 30 now say they are more concerned than excited about AI -- a majority. This growing wariness extends beyond the technology itself and onto the people building it. A CNBC Generation Lab poll asked 1,088 respondents whether they trusted nine of the industry's most prominent leaders to act responsibly, and found that a majority distrusted every single one. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella came out relatively best, though still with 65% saying they do not trust him. Palantir CEO Alex Karp fared worst, distrusted by 81%. Anthropic's Dario Amodei and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai were not far behind, both distrusted by around 75% of respondents. Only 36% thought an independent expert body should be the one setting the rules for AI. More Europeans worried about AI taking their jobs The same anxieties are showing up across the Atlantic. A 2025 study by EY found that 42% of European employees worry AI could put their jobs at risk, while a broader survey by Verian Group for the European Commission found that 66% of the wider public believe AI will ultimately destroy more jobs than it creates. Yet the picture is not entirely bleak: half of Europeans surveyed by Verian agreed that AI could help tackle major global challenges, from serious diseases to climate change. Views on its broader impact were similarly split -- 55% of EU citizens expected AI to shape daily life positively over the next 20 years, against 35% who anticipated the opposite. Europeans also overwhelmingly back stronger oversight: 84% agree that AI and robots need to be carefully managed, primarily to protect privacy and ensure transparency. At the same time, a majority still see AI's presence at work in a positive light -- 62% view it favourably, against 32% who do not. That caution may partly stem from a knowledge gap. More than 60% of Europeans say they do not feel informed about the potential risks of using AI in scientific research. Taken together, the data suggests Europeans are somewhat more open to AI than Americans, yet also more inclined to demand regulation and safety guardrails. In the United States, by contrast, AI's expansion is running into a different kind of resistance. Plans to build new AI data centres across the country are facing significant public backlash, even where developers offer incentives such as job guarantees. Much of that pushback stems from a simple disconnect: many consumers do not see a clear personal benefit from the infrastructure being built around them. For a long time, AI was something narrow and useful -- a search tool, a chatbot. Now, it is showing up everywhere: in televisions, video platforms, email, music, schoolwork and more. And for a lot of people, the experience of that expansion has skewed negative, whether that means students using AI to cheat or artists watching their work absorbed into training data without consent.

Young people increasingly don't trust AI - or the billionaires that keep telling us we should all love AI, survey finds

* Study finds young people are increasingly pessimistic about AI * Nearly half say AI will have a negative impact on their careers * They're also suspicious of leading AI figures and executives Younger Americans are becoming increasingly distrustful not only of AI, but also the executives and evangelists who promote the technology, a new study has claimed. A CNBC/Generation Labs survey of 1,088 Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 found the vast majority saying they distrusted the leaders of major companies investing in AI, including the likes of Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. The reasons behind this distrust were fairly clear to spot - with nearly half (45%) of respondents saying AI would have a negative impact on their careers, compared to just 10% who believed the technology will help them. AI villains The study covered a range of wider concerns young people may have around the future, with worries around the economy and jobs among the biggest pressures, however the threat of AI was seemingly ever-present, with the technology increasingly influencing all areas of everyday life. This expands to the figures becoming the poster children for AI - respondents were given nine key people in the AI industry and asked whether they trusted each of them to act responsibly on AI moving forward. Perhaps unsurprisingly, every figure was marked negatively - with Palantir CEO Alex Karp scoring the worst, as 81% of respondents saying they do not trust him. Karp was followed by Palantir Chairman Peter Thiel (79%), Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai (75%) and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (75%). Other notable figures, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk all scored about the same 70% figure - but there was 'better' news for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who recorded the "highest" score, with just 65% of respondents saying they don't trust him. Looking at technology's place in the wider world, 40% of Americans said they believed "the federal government" should establish rules for AI, with just over a third (36%) believing "an independent expert body" should do so - and just 8% said they think AI "shouldn't be regulated." Keeping with the spirit of protests across the nation, nearly two-thirds (60%) of Americans believed data center construction "must be slowed," with just 15% saying they wanted to be "speeding it up." Looking forward, the when asked about how they would rate the American economy, nearly 80% said they had a negative sentiment - and when asked about the future of the economy, 50% believed it "will get worse," compared with just 22% who said it "will get better." Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

The generation that is most comfortable with AI might surprise you

Pew Research asked Americans their thoughts on how artificial intelligence will impact society, jobs, and creativity. Here's what they said. Well, this should come as no surprise to absolutely everyone: Americans, particularly younger generations like Gen Z, are increasingly worried about AI and its potential to take their jobs. This finding comes from a new survey from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Pew Research Center, which conducted the research in June. Concern about artificial intelligence is up particularly among young adults under 30, whose skepticism recently made headlines when college graduates booed speaker after speaker at commencement addresses for praising and touting AI's benefits. In fact, for the first time since Pew started the survey in 2021, a majority of Americans under 30 (55%) now say they're "more concerned than excited" about AI -- which is roughly the same level of skepticism expressed by Americans in their thirties, forties, late sixties, and older. However, what is surprising is that the generation that seems to be most comfortable with AI is none other than Gen X (50- to 61-year-olds). That age group is the only one in which a majority did not say they are "more concerned than excited" about AI. The survey found, overall, more than half of Americans (52%) are "more concerned than excited" about the increased use of AI in everyday life, up from 37% five years ago. (Only 9% are "more excited than concerned," while 37% say they're "equally concerned and excited.") AI and job loss Five years ago, job loss was one of the top reasons for people's concern about AI. Today they are even more worried: A whopping 71% of adults told researchers they believe AI will lead to fewer jobs in the U.S. over the next two decades, up from 64% in 2024. Only 5% believe the technology will lead to more jobs. Of those surveyed who are younger than 30, 73% said they believe AI will lead to fewer jobs -- up from 61% two years ago. They now hold this view at the same rate as their older counterparts, ages 30 to 64.

Employers Are Getting 1 Thing Wrong About Gen-Z's Chatbot Use. It's Not the Technology

With chatbots and automated tools on the rise, the youngest generation in the workforce may be expected to be the most familiar with artificial intelligence -- and, in turn, the most enthusiastic about the technology. A new study says otherwise. Pew Research Center researchers Colleen McClain and Eugenie Park found that concern among young adults under 30 about AI taking jobs has jumped 16 percentage points in two years. Concern barely moved or even declined among older age groups. Additionally, for the first time, a majority of young adults under 30 -- 55 percent -- now say they're more concerned than excited about AI. Robert Seamans, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business who studies technology in firms and the economic consequences of AI, told Inc. that the findings point to a surprising trend. "In some ways, young adults should be the most excited about new technology," Seamans said. "They are the ones that understand how to use the technology, whereas older workers don't." AI anxiety is rising fastest among young adults While adults across most age groups increasingly foresee job loss from AI, the pattern is most pronounced among young adults. Concern among 18- to 29-year-olds rose significantly from 2024 to 2026. That shift was significantly greater than the changes seen among other age groups, the Pew Research Center researchers told Inc.

Majority 'more concerned than excited' about increased AI use in daily life: Survey

More Americans are now growing concerned over artificial intelligence use in daily life, according to a recent survey. A new Pew Research survey released Tuesday showed 52 percent of respondents said they are more concerned than excited about AI, matching the all-time high in 2023 since the survey began. When asked if respondents were more excited than concerned, only 9 percent said so, the lowest the number ever recorded. The survey also observed how age affects attitudes toward AI with respondents who were over 60 and aged 18 to 29 remaining the most worried at 59 percent and 55 percent, respectively. Still, concern about AI's potential to take over the job market is up among all age groups compared to the 2024 results. Pew Research added that 71 percent of respondents believe AI will take Americans' jobs, up 7 percent from 2024. In March, Anthropic analyzed the labor displacement AI would have on the job market and found that white-collar jobs were among the highest sectors where AI could theoretically perform best. Growing fears about AI in recent months prompted measures seeking to stop or rein in data center construction, gaining momentum at state and local levels. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) on Tuesday signed an executive order that could limit AI data center development in the state. It requires local communities to approve a data center project before construction begins and removes the Fast Track permitting program. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in July imposed the nation's first-ever statewide freeze on new "hyperscale" data centers. Her office said it was to give the state time to put together a framework to protect the environment, the energy grid and New Yorkers' electric bills. In Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced a bill in March that aimed to bar the construction of new data centers until there are stronger national safeguards in place. "A moratorium will give us time -- time to understand the risks, time to protect working families," Sanders said during the announcement. The survey was conducted between June 22-28 with 3,488 respondents. The margin of sampling error was 1.8 percentage points.

Gen Z are AI skeptics -- and this is the tech CEO they trust the least

A new poll asked young Americans if they trusted nine of the biggest players in the AI industry. Not a single one scored above 35%. Americans' disdain for artificial intelligence is nothing new. Recent polling shows that 52% of U.S. adults feel more concerned than excited about the growth of AI in daily life, while nearly three quarters of Americans oppose the construction of new data centers in their areas. But different research shows it's not just the tech itself that's sparking skepticism among Americans, but also the leaders at the forefront of the AI industry. A new poll from CNBC and Generation Lab asked American adults under age 35 for their thoughts on the state of AI, the economy, politics, and more, pointing toward a massive chunk of the population that doesn't stand by AI or by the people in charge of it. A lack of trust in AI The poll asked young Americans for their thoughts on nine of the biggest players in the AI industry, including eight tech CEOs. Respondents didn't have trust in a single one of them to act responsibly on AI. The most trusted figure in the poll, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, still scored dismally, with 65% of respondents saying they don't trust him. The results only get worse from there, with OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceX's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang each having approximately 70% of respondents distrust them. Even lower on the ranking, 74% of young Americans said they don't trust Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and 76% said the same about Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Two representatives for Palantir, Chairman Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp, occupy the bottom two spots on the list with 79% and 81% of respondents distrusting them respectively.

AI is losing young Americans: new Pew survey shows rising concern

Pew Research Center has new U.S. survey data on artificial intelligence, and the takeaway is pretty stark: young Americans now feel far more worried about it than excited. In Pew's latest survey, 55% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 29 say they're more concerned than excited, while just 11% say they're more excited than concerned. That's a sharp shift from 31% expressing concern in 2021 and 39% in 2024. Excitement has fallen too, down from 25% five years ago. Work seems to be driving a lot of that anxiety. In the same Pew Research Center survey, 73% of adults under 30 say AI will mean fewer jobs over the next 20 years, up from 61% in 2024. Among all U.S. adults, 71% say the same. What makes that more interesting is that younger adults are still the age group most likely to use chatbot tools. That mix of heavy use and growing skepticism is showing up in other places too. Gallup found Gen Z excitement down 14 points since 2025, while anger rose 9 points. Data from the European Commission, the International Labour Organization, and Opeepl Youth Pulse points in the same direction: younger Europeans are especially uneasy about job automation and misinformation, even though 67% say they use AI tools. If you keep an eye on AI and the job market, this update is worth a look. The Pew Research Center survey is available online.

Majority of young Americans distrust billionaire AI leaders

Around seven in 10 young Americans distrust some of the most prominent billionaire leaders behind the AI boom, while 45% believe the technology will hurt their careers. A poll of 1,088 Americans aged 18 to 34 conducted by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45% expected AI to negatively affect their careers, compared with just 10% who believed it would help them, Forbes reported. Distrust was widespread toward executives leading companies at the center of the AI boom. Palantir CEO Alex Karp had the highest distrust level at 81%, followed by the company's chairman Peter Thiel at 79%, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at 76% and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at 74%. Around 70% said they distrusted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was viewed most favorably among the executives surveyed, although 65% still said they distrusted him, compared with 35% who trusted him. The skepticism extended to the infrastructure powering AI. About 60% of respondents said construction of data centers should be slowed, while 15% wanted development accelerated.The findings come as AI is generating enormous fortunes for technology executives and startup founders. Forbes estimated Musk's fortune at nearly $870 billion as of Aug. 13, making him the world's richest person. Zuckerberg ranked sixth with about $204.3 billion, while Huang was eighth with $194.5 billion. Altman was worth an estimated $3.3 billion. Meanwhile, the AI boom has created a new generation of billionaires as investors pour money into startups. The New York Times reported in December that founders of companies including Scale AI, Cursor, Perplexity, Mercor, Figure AI, Safe Superintelligence and Harvey had reached billionaire status on paper as valuations of their companies soared. Many accumulated their fortunes remarkably quickly, with most of the new AI billionaires founding their companies within a few years of OpenAI's release of ChatGPT in late 2022. The distrust toward AI leaders comes amid broader public unease about the technology and the power of major technology companies. A Pew Research Center analysis published in March found that half of U.S. adults were more concerned than excited about the growing use of AI in daily life, compared with just 10% who were more excited than concerned. A YouGov survey of around 1,200 U.S. adults commissioned by the Little Tech Association found that 71% believed large technology companies and their CEOs had too much power, while just 2% believed they had too little, Axios reported in July. The skepticism toward AI also comes amid wider economic anxiety among young Americans. In the CNBC/Generation Lab poll, 45% described the U.S. economy as "bad," another 27% called it "very bad," and 6% said it "couldn't be worse.