The AI industry's trust problem may be bigger than the technology itself.
A new CNBC Generation Lab poll of 1,088 Americans aged 18 to 34 found that a majority of respondents don't trust any of nine prominent AI executives to act responsibly on artificial intelligence.
At the same time, young Americans are increasingly worried about what AI means for their own careers and are calling for greater government oversight of the technology.
That combination presents a serious challenge for an industry attempting to persuade the public that its rapid expansion will ultimately benefit society.
The Trust Problem Is Remarkably Broad
None of the nine executives tested in the poll received a majority-trust rating.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella performed best, but even he was viewed with distrust by 65% of respondents.
The numbers were substantially worse for several other prominent technology executives.
About 70% said they didn't trust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang or SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to act responsibly on AI.
About 75% expressed distrust toward Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
Palantir Chairman Peter Thiel reached 79%, while Palantir CEO Alex Karp had the lowest score, with 81% saying they didn't trust him.
The result is notable because the distrust isn't concentrated around one controversial executive or one company.
It extends across much of the AI industry's leadership.
Young People Are Worried About Their Careers
The same poll found that 45% of respondents believe AI will have a negative impact on their careers.
Only 10% thought AI would help their careers.
That concern comes against an already difficult economic backdrop for the demographic. Nearly 80% of respondents expressed negative sentiment about the U.S. economy, while housing was identified as the biggest financial pressure by 45%.
For younger workers already worried about finding secure, well-paid employment, the promise that AI will eventually create enormous economic gains may be less persuasive than the possibility that it could eliminate opportunities in the near term.
They Want The Government Involved
The survey also shows substantial support for intervention.
Forty percent said the federal government should establish AI rules, while another 36% preferred an independent expert body to regulate the technology.
Only 8% said AI should not be regulated.
Data centers face similar skepticism.
Sixty percent said construction of data centers should be slowed, compared with just 15% who wanted construction accelerated.
That's particularly significant because the industry's physical expansion has become one of the most visible manifestations of the AI boom.
The public isn't being asked to think about an abstract technology anymore. AI increasingly means power plants, transmission lines, enormous data centers and billions of dollars in infrastructure.
This Is A Problem AI Companies Can't Solve With Better Marketing
The poll arrives at an interesting moment for the industry.
AI executives have increasingly been trying to explain the benefits of their technology while simultaneously warning about its risks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, recently argued that public skepticism is fundamentally a crisis of trust rather than simply a communications problem.
The CNBC polling suggests there is considerable evidence behind that assessment.
Young Americans aren't merely saying they dislike AI.
They're saying they don't trust the people building it, worry about its effect on their careers, want somebody to regulate it and don't want the infrastructure required to expand it built as quickly.
That's a much harder problem for Silicon Valley to solve.
What This Means For Miami
Miami is actively trying to position itself as an AI hub, which means the city's AI ambitions depend on more than attracting startups and investment.
They depend on public acceptance.
Miami will eventually have to answer many of the same questions appearing in this survey: How should AI be regulated? How should it be introduced into education? Who should be accountable when AI causes harm? And how much infrastructure should communities accept to support the next generation of computing?
The trust issue may be particularly important.
If Miami wants to become a major AI city, it can't assume that younger residents will automatically see that as good news.
The next generation may be the people most skeptical of the people building it.
Reporting Source: This article builds upon reporting from CNBC and Futurism and adds analysis of what the development means for Miami and South Florida.
