New Polls Show 80% of Voters — Including Most Republicans — Want Mandatory AI Safety Testing. Congress Is Moving the Opposite Direction.
Multiple fresh polls, including a September 2025 Gallup/SCSP survey and an August 2025 University of Maryland study, show bipartisan supermajorities demanding mandatory government oversight of AI. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans are trying to gut state AI laws, and the White House AI Action Plan explicitly opposes domestic regulation. The gap between what voters want and what Washington is doing is enormous.
The Numbers Are In. Politicians Aren't Listening. A wave of new polling data on AI regulation has emerged — and it contradicts the direction Washington is heading. According to a September 2025 Gallup/Special Competitive Studies Project survey, 97% of Americans agree that AI safety and security should be subject to rules and regulations. Not 60%. Not 75%. Ninety-seven percent. Republicans Support Regulation Too — Overwhelmingly This isn't a left-wing talking point. The Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute's latest poll found that 80% of voters prefer mandatory safety measures and government certification of new AI models — including 76% of Republicans and 84% of Democrats. A separate poll released Thursday, shared first with The Hill from the American Edge Project, confirmed that a majority of Republican voters specifically support requiring AI models to undergo independent security testing . The August 2025 Program for Public Consultation survey at the University of Maryland — fielded July 30 through August 7 with 1,202 adults — found that 79% of Americans favor requiring AI programs to pass a government test before deployment. Republicans came in at 84% support. That's higher than Democrats at 81%. The GOP base wants regulation. GOP leadership in Congress is sprinting away from it. What Congress Is Actually Doing At President Trump's direction, Congressional Republicans are maneuvering to preempt all state AI laws by embedding a provision into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, according to Public Citizen. The White House is also preparing an executive order designed to undermine state-level AI regulation. The White House AI Action Plan, released recently, explicitly opposes domestic government regulation of AI — framing it as an obstacle to American dominance over China, according to the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland. That's a direct contradiction of what the public — including the Republican base — is demanding. The China Argument Isn't Working The administration's main justification is the AI race with Beijing. The argument: regulate AI and China wins. Voters aren't buying it. A July 2024 Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute poll found that three out of four American voters — 75% of Democrats AND 75% of Republicans — are skeptical of the argument that competing with China justifies leaving AI unregulated. They believe a "careful, controlled approach" is smarter than a wild sprint. The White House framed its plan as pro-innovation versus China's regulatory posturing. Voters don't see it that way. Both countries released competing global AI governance frameworks within days of each other, yet the public remains unconvinced that deregulation serves American interests. What Mainstream Coverage Is Getting Wrong Most outlets are covering this as a partisan fight — Democrats want regulation, Republicans want a free market. That framing is factually wrong . Republicans in polling support mandatory safety testing at rates equal to or higher than Democrats. The YouGov September 2024 poll found that AI is the single industry Americans most want regulated — across all 40 industries surveyed. That includes 66% of Trump supporters. Left-leaning outlets paint this as Big Tech buying off Republicans. Right-leaning outlets mostly ignore the polling entirely. Neither side is being straight with you. The pattern is clearer: elected officials of both parties are ignoring constituents to protect an industry that spends heavily in Washington. What People Actually Want The AIPI poll asked voters to rank their priorities from the Senate AI Roadmap. Results: 67% prioritize monitoring to prevent AI from falling into the hands of adversaries 63% support regulatory measures to prevent misinformation and protect user privacy 80% want government certification required before new frontier AI models can be released Only 24% of Americans want AI companies to self-regulate and face prosecution only if their models get used for something illegal. That's the approach Congress is currently enabling. Daniel Colson, Executive Director of the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute, put it plainly: "Voters from across the political spectrum overwhelmingly back an active government approach on AI regulation, one that centers safety and security, not free corporate development." Steven Kull, director of the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland, was equally blunt: "While the public is wary of government regulation, they are clearly more wary of the unconstrained development and use of AI." The Divide Multiple independent polls from Gallup, YouGov, the University of Maryland, and the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute all point to the same conclusion: the American public — left, right, and center — wants mandatory safety testing, government certification, and real oversight of AI. Not industry self-regulation. Congress is moving to st
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