AI experts and the public’s opinion on the technology are increasingly diverging, according to Stanford University’s annual report on the AI industry, which was released Monday. In particular, the report noted a growing trend of anxiety around AI and, in the U.S., concerns about how the technology will impact key societal areas, such as jobs, medical care, and the economy.
The report’s findings follow growing negative sentiment about AI, with Gen Z reportedly leading the way, according to a recent Gallup poll. The study found that young people were growing less hopeful and more angry about the technology, even though around half of the demographic was using AI either daily or weekly.
For some working in tech, the AI backlash has come as a surprise. AI leaders have focused on managing the possibility of Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI — a theoretical form of AI superintelligence that could perform any task a human could do and think for itself. But everyday folks are more concerned about AI’s impact on their paycheck and whether or not their power bills will go up as energy-hungry data centers are built.
tbh it’s weird that parts of the tech industry are still shocked by ongoing anti-AI public narrativeswhen the leaders of OpenAI and Anthropic are like “if we do nothing this is going to suck for a lot of people”, what do you think the sentiment is going to be?— David Zhou (@dz) April 13, 2026
Yes, I think a lot of AI leaders are just out of touch with normal people and don’t realize that fears of skynet are *not* what is primarily driving anti-AI sentiment. That exists, obviously, but most people are way more concerned with their paycheck and the cost of utilities.— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) April 13, 2026
The divide has been most apparent in the online reaction to the recent attacks on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home. In posts on X , for instance, AI insiders voiced surprise at a series of Instagram comments that seemed to praise the attack on Altman’s home. Some of the online comments have a similar vibe to those that circulated online after the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO in 2024 and the more recent burning of a Kimberly-Clark warehouse by a worker angry about not receiving a “livable wage” — with some comments even going so far as to suggest that even more action, akin to a revolution, is needed.
Stanford’s report provides more insight into where all this negativity is coming from, as it summarizes data around public sentiment of AI across various sources.
For instance, it pointed to a report from Pew Research published last month, which noted that only 10% of …