Gen Z are AI skeptics—and this is the tech CEO they trust the least

Gen Z, the generation of Americans under age 35, are expressing significant skepticism towards artificial intelligence (AI) and the tech CEOs who lead the industry. A recent poll conducted by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 52% of young Americans feel more concerned than excited about the growth of AI in daily life, and nearly three quarters oppose the construction of new data centers in their areas.

However, the poll revealed that trust in AI leaders is lacking across the board. When asked to assess the trustworthiness of nine major players in the AI industry, including eight tech CEOs, only 35% of respondents expressed trust in any of them to act responsibly regarding AI. The most trusted figure, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, still had a dismally low trust score of 65%.

The rest of the top players all had dismally low trust scores, with OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceX's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei each having approximately 70% of respondents distrusting them. The poll also found that young Americans are pessimistic about the impact of AI on their careers, with 45% believing it will have a negative impact and just 10% feeling it will help.

Additionally, the majority of respondents, 76%, called for AI to be regulated by either the government or an independent expert body, and 60% wanted construction of data centers to be slowed down. Interestingly, despite the distrust in AI, a significant portion of young Americans, 46%, have a somewhat favorable or very favorable view of democratic socialism, a political ideology that has gained traction in recent state and local elections.