Wednesday, October 7, 2026 --:--:-- ET
New York 62°F Partly cloudy Los Angeles 78°F Sunny Chicago 55°F Windy
Subscribe
U.S. Edition Est. 2026 Oct. 7, 2026

US News America

Independent reporting for a changing America

Breaking
SpaceX Seeks $40 Billion Apollo-Led Financing to Buy Nvidia Chips, Reports Say Trump Makes Third Texas Trip in a Month for San Antonio Rally With Paxton as Senate Race Tightens States Face Higher SNAP Costs as Enrollment Falls by More Than 5 Million Under New Requirements Most U.S. Voters Say Trump and Congress Are Not Taking AI Risks Seriously, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds The Morning Briefing: October 7, 2026
Technology

Most U.S. Voters Say Trump and Congress Are Not Taking AI Risks Seriously, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 57% of registered voters say the Trump administration has not taken AI risks seriously enough, 84% see AI as a threat to American workers, and a bipartisan majority supports stricter regulation ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.

By admin Oct. 7, 2026 · 7:40 AM ET 2 min read

A modern glass data center building at dusk with illuminated server racks visible inside and people walking in the foreground with their backs to the camera

A majority of American voters say neither the Trump administration nor Congress is treating the risks of artificial intelligence seriously enough, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.

In the six-day survey, which ended Monday, 57% of registered voters said the administration has not taken AI risks seriously enough or at all, a view shared by about a third of self-identified Republicans, according to Reuters. Some 54% said the same about Congress.

Jobs are the central worry

The poll found 84% of voters view AI as a threat to American workers, a larger share than those who said the same about illegal immigration, foreign competition or large corporations, according to Reuters. About 62% said the technology could get out of control and endanger humanity, roughly unchanged from a Reuters/Ipsos survey in August last year.

Support for tougher rules crossed party lines. Reuters reported that 80% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans backed stricter government regulation of AI, and 56% of voters supported limits on building the data centers that power the technology. Opposition also grew to military uses, with 57% saying the government should not use AI to select the target of a military strike, up from 49% in August 2025.

Little federal action so far

President Donald Trump has argued that limiting AI development would let U.S. companies fall behind Chinese rivals, according to Reuters, and last week he said six leading AI developers had agreed to voluntary safety principles with no stated consequences for noncompliance. Congress has not agreed on legislation setting guardrails for the technology, and lawmakers are expected to be away from Washington until after the Nov. 3 midterms, Reuters reported.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted online nationwide among 4,506 U.S. adults, including 3,526 registered voters, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points, according to Reuters.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.

Related Stories