A large majority of American voters — 84% — view artificial intelligence as a threat to U.S. workers, and most say the Trump administration and Congress are not taking the technology's risks seriously enough, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week.
The nationwide survey of registered voters, conducted over six days from September 30 to October 5, lands four weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, as AI has moved from a niche policy debate to a kitchen-table concern. For more context on this story, see our ongoing AI policy coverage.
The Numbers Behind the Anxiety
The 84% figure puts AI ahead of more traditional economic anxieties: significantly more voters identified AI as a threat to American jobs than cited illegal immigration, foreign-worker competition or large corporations, according to the poll.
Concerns extend beyond employment. About 62% of voters said AI could eventually get out of control and put the future of humanity at risk — a figure that has barely moved since a comparable Reuters/Ipsos poll in August 2025, suggesting that a year of industry debate over superintelligence has neither amplified nor calmed the public's existential worries.
Two other anxieties feed the mood, according to the reporting on the poll. Cybersecurity incidents involving AI tools have added to public unease, and researchers continue to warn about increasingly autonomous systems acting beyond their operators' intent. Meanwhile, AI's growing energy demands have drawn scrutiny as large data centers are built near communities, putting additional pressure on local power systems — a friction point voters in dozens of congressional districts can now see from their own neighborhoods.
A Bipartisan Case for Regulation
The poll found broad cross-party support for tighter oversight: roughly 61% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats favor stricter government regulation of AI, with a bipartisan majority overall backing the idea.
Skepticism of Washington's response is nearly as widespread. Some 57% of registered voters said the Trump administration has not taken AI risks seriously enough — or has not taken them seriously at all — while 54% said the same of Congress. Notably, about one-third of Republicans said their own party's administration was not treating the risks with appropriate seriousness.
The issue has produced some unlikely alliances. Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, have both called for greater federal restrictions on AI — a convergence that underscores how the technology's perceived threats cut across ideological lines.
Washington's Voluntary Approach Under Scrutiny
President Trump has consistently championed AI expansion and data center construction, arguing the technology is essential to U.S. competitiveness and pointing to competition with China as a reason to avoid imposing extensive industry restrictions.
So far, the administration has emphasized voluntary measures. Last week, Trump said executives from six major AI companies — Nvidia, SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Alphabet's Google — had agreed to voluntary safety principles, including working with independent auditors to examine whether AI systems operate as intended. The agreement does not carry the force of law.
A White House official, responding to the poll's findings, pointed to Trump's newly established AI task force, saying its goal is to ensure that "America continues to lead the world" in the technology. "The Trump administration's priority is to ensure there is a booming economy so that workers have many opportunities and experience limited volatility from any short-term disruptions," the official said when asked about AI-related job losses.
What It Means for the AI Industry
Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who left the company in 2024 over concerns about its approach to AI safety, told Reuters that employment and human safety are more immediate concerns for most Americans than existential risk. "That's an important concern but it's not top of mind for most Americans, nor should it be," Kokotajlo said.
For AI companies, the poll is a reminder that public sentiment has not caught up with the industry's pace of deployment — and that with voters overwhelmingly worried about jobs, candidates in tight midterm races may find AI skepticism to be an easier applause line than AI enthusiasm. The gap between Silicon Valley's promises and voters' anxieties is now a measurable political fact, with control of Congress potentially hinging on how both parties choose to close it.
How the Poll Was Conducted
The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted nationwide among registered voters over six days, from September 30 to October 5, capturing opinion in the final weeks before the November 3 elections. Because it measured registered voters rather than all adults, the results offer a direct read on the electorate that will decide the midterm outcome — the group both parties are courting with their competing visions of America's AI future.
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