Most young Americans deeply distrust top AI bros – poll
And their ability to act responsibly on AI.
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- A CNBC Generation Lab poll found most young Americans distrust AI leaders’ ability to act responsibly.
- Forty-five percent expect AI to hurt their careers, while only 10% believe it will help them.
- Sixty percent want data center construction slowed, showing concern over AI’s infrastructure and local impacts.
- Alex Karp and Peter Thiel faced the deepest distrust, amid criticism of Palantir’s military and immigration work.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Most young Americans don’t think that leaders of AI companies can act responsibly with the technology.
A new CNBC Generation Lab poll, which surveyed 1,088 people aged 18 to 34, reveals increasingly negative attitudes towards AI, data centers, and key industry leaders.
Nearly half (45%) of respondents said they believe AI will have a negative impact on their careers, compared to only 10% who think the technology will help them.
While 40% say it is the federal government who “must set the rules for AI,” 36% would rather leave it in the hands of “an independent expert body.”
The growing skepticism towards AI also translates to negative views towards data centers, which power the technology. Six in ten (60%) said data center construction must be slowed, compared to 15% who support speeding it up.
The survey also asked about the young Americans’ trust in 9 key people in the industry and their ability to act responsibly on AI.
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The majority of respondents said no in each case, with Palantir Technologies’ CEO, Alex Karp, distrusted the most – 81% don’t believe his approach is responsible.
Palantir Technologies has been at the center of controversy due to its involvement in military and immigration enforcement operations. Critics have repeatedly accused the company of facilitating mass surveillance and human rights violations.
Unsurprisingly, respondents are also skeptical about Palantir’s co-founder and chairman Peter Thiel, as 79% said they don’t trust him and his ability to act responsibly.
About 3 in 4 respondents don’t have confidence in Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, according to the CNBC Generation Lab survey.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk all scored about the same – about 70% of young Americans say they don’t trust them and their approach.
Altman, in particular, has repeatedly stirred uproar with his predictions for the future. He said that instead of shortening the workweek, AI will make people work even more, or that AI will become a utility that people will buy from OpenAI by the meter.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appears to be the most trusted key AI figure, although 65% of respondents still don’t believe he can act responsibly with AI.
The survey comes just weeks before the midterm elections, where concerns about AI and data centers are emerging as a major political issue, crossing bipartisan lines.
A Gallup survey from May 2060 found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose building data centers in their local areas, making them even less desirable neighbors than nuclear power plants.