Survey reveals deep distrust among young Americans toward AI and its leaders

A survey conducted by CNBC and Generation Labs interviewed 1,088 young Americans aged 18 to 34 and found growing distrust toward artificial intelligence and the executives driving its development. Among key findings, 45% of respondents believe AI will negatively impact their careers, while only 10% see potential benefits from the technology. The distrust is particularly evident regarding leaders in the AI industry. None of the nine executives evaluated received favorable approval from respondents. Palantir's CEO Alex Karp showed the highest distrust rate at 81%, followed by Palantir chairman Peter Thiel at 79%. The CEOs of Alphabet, Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, Nvidia, and SpaceX all recorded distrust rates between 70% and 75%, while Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella had the lowest at 65%. Regarding AI's regulatory future, 40% of young people believe the federal government should establish rules, 36% support creating independent expert bodies, and only 8% think the technology should not be regulated. On data center construction, 60% said the pace should slow down, contrasting with just 15% who support acceleration.