Distrust of Big Tech runs across party lines
Survey results released today by USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication reveal that most Americans want more regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. Overall, 76% of Americans say the government is doing too little to regulate AI, and 78% say the government is doing too little to regulate data centers. That sentiment cuts across party lines, AI users and non-users, geography and generations (Figure 1).
The findings comes from a survey conducted for the new season of the USC podcast Electric Futures: AI, Data Centers, and Trust, which utilized the nationally representative Understanding America Study to poll 2,980 Americans in October.
Although we found some differences by political leaning, the majority of each group agreed that the government was doing too little to regulate AI and data centers. Democrats were most likely to say that the government is doing too little to regulate AI and data centers (86% and 88%, respectively). A smaller majority of Republicans (68% and 69%) said the same, while Independents and others were in between at 72% and 73%.
Even the heaviest users of the technology would welcome more oversight. While daily AI users were less negative than Americans who used AI less often, 73% said the government is doing too little to regulate AI and data centers. The share was 77% among weekly users, 78% among monthly users, 84% among less frequent users and 76% among non-users.
Not only does the expressed desire for more regulation cut across party lines, it spans generations. Seventy-four percent of Gen Z and Millennials think the government is doing too little to regulate AI and 75% say the same of data centers. Older generations agree with this sentiment, with 77% saying the government is doing too little to regulate data centers and 79% saying that about AI.
Figure 1
Across each U.S. region, strong majorities agreed with the need for more regulation of AI and data centers. Seventy-seven percent of Americans in the Northeast say the government is doing too little to regulate AI, compared with 75% in the Midwest, 73% in the South and 80% in the West. The numbers are similar when it comes to data center regulation.
One key predictor of wanting regulation: 71% of Americans say they do not trust big tech companies at all to do what is in society’s best interest regarding the development of data centers. This finding is notable because distrust of Big Tech is even more common than distrust of the national government on this issue (at 59%). For context, the national government was the least trusted of 25 rated sectors, ranking below the pharmaceutical industry, according to Gallup’s 2025 annual industry ratings. Even most Republicans and daily AI users do not trust big tech companies, although they are slightly less negative about Big Tech and the national government than other Americans (Figure 2).
Figure 2
These and other findings about AI, data centers, and trust will be analyzed by experts in season 4 of the USC energy podcast, Electric Futures, which drops today.
Allison Agsten is director of the USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication and scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service. Wändi Bruine de Bruin is Provost Professor of Public Policy, Psychology, and Behavioral Science at USC and director of research with the Center for Civic Society at the USC Schaeffer Institute.