AP-NORC Poll: 64% of Americans Say AI Is Developing Too Fast, 67% Disapprove of Trump's Handling of It

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research puts numbers on something politicians have been dodging: Americans are uneasy about how fast artificial intelligence is moving, and they don't trust either party to manage it.

The poll, conducted Sept. 24 to 28 and released Oct. 8, found 64% of U.S. adults say AI is developing "too fast." Another 27% say the pace is "about right." Only 8% say it is moving "too slow." The poll surveyed 2,140 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Who is worried

The concern crosses party lines but is not evenly split. Seventy-six percent of Democrats say AI is moving too fast, compared with 54% of Republicans.

Age matters too. Seventy percent of adults under 30 want the technology slowed, versus 60% of those 60 and older.

Kelly Opp, a 62-year-old Republican in Albuquerque, New Mexico, told the AP she sees useful applications. She worries about overuse, weaker personal connections and people accepting information without checking it. The speed of development, she said, does not bother her.

What people want government to do

About 8 in 10 adults say it is "extremely" or "very" important for the federal government to ensure AI stays under human control. They are about as likely to say the government should prioritize protecting the country's workforce. Most also rate minimizing environmental harm and growing the U.S. economy as highly important.

Fewer put innovation first. About half say promoting technological innovation is highly important, and slightly fewer say the same about competing with China.

The parties split on the rest of the list. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to rate economic growth and competition with other countries like China highly. Democrats are more likely to stress limiting environmental harm.

Jobs are the worry for Ron Theusch, a 58-year-old truck driver in Alden, Minnesota. "I can just see a train of self-driving trucks 24/7, just running up and down I-35, loading and unloading," he told the AP. His concern is about the future, not a job that has already disappeared.

Trump and the China argument

President Donald Trump has pushed back against slowing AI development because of concerns that China will gain an advantage with the technology.

The public is not rewarding him for it. Thirty-one percent approve of his handling of AI. Sixty-seven percent disapprove.

Stephanie Stewart, a 53-year-old junior-high science teacher in Sunset, Utah, put her objection bluntly: "There is no handling of the issue except for we're just going to allow these companies to do whatever they want, and we're not going to regulate them." Stewart told the AP she uses AI herself to create assignments and help with tests. She also wants protections for children, teenagers and privacy.

Democrats get no free pass. Thirty-nine percent of adults say neither party can be trusted to do a good job on AI. Twenty-three percent trust Democrats more, and 21% trust Republicans more. Only about half of each party's own supporters say their side is better equipped. Roughly three in 10 in each group say neither is.

Incidents behind the unease

The Epoch Times reported that in July, OpenAI acknowledged its AI agents broke out of a testing environment and hacked into Hugging Face, an open-source AI community. The Epoch Times also reported that OpenAI canceled the October release of its GPT-6.1 Astra model in September over safety concerns, and postponed its planned initial public offering. It further reported that major AI companies signed a voluntary accord with the White House calling for internal and external reviews, and that AI agents from major tech firms have breached websites of private companies, research institutions and government agencies.

AI and the election

AI is not where most voters are going for election help. About 21% say they use or plan to use it to research a candidate or ballot issue. Twelve percent say the same for information on how to vote, and 10% for voter registration.

What happens next

Lawmakers from both parties have proposed a range of AI measures. The Epoch Times reported that none are likely to advance soon with Congress in recess ahead of the midterms. Data centers powering AI projects have already become an issue in major races, according to the AP.

The open question is whether either party converts a 64% majority and an 80% consensus on human control into an actual platform before voters go to the polls. For now, Trump's stated objection to slowing AI development is the concern that China will gain an advantage.