Most U.S. Voters Want Stricter AI Rules. Many Say Trump And Congress Are Falling Short.

Most U.S. voters say the federal government should impose stricter rules on artificial intelligence, with majorities also saying President Donald Trump's administration and Congress are not taking the technology's risks seriously enough, according to a new survey.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 57% of registered voters believed the Trump administration had not taken AI risks seriously enough or at all. Another 54% said the same of Congress.

Concern was especially high around jobs. Some 84% of registered voters said they viewed AI as a threat to American workers.

By comparison, 74% said competition from foreign workers posed a threat to U.S. workers, 73% pointed to large corporations and 60% cited illegal immigration.

Support for tighter regulation crossed party lines. The poll found 80% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans supported stricter government regulation of artificial intelligence.

Voters also expressed concern about whether increasingly capable AI systems could become difficult to control. Some 62% said AI could get out of control and threaten the future of humankind, roughly unchanged from a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in August 2025.

Artificial intelligence has become a larger policy issue ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, with debates over jobs, data centers, military uses and AI safety increasingly appearing in congressional and statewide races.

The Trump administration has generally favored faster AI development while emphasizing U.S. competition with China and limiting new federal regulatory burdens.

In June, Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding AI use in cybersecurity while creating a voluntary framework for advanced AI developers rather than a mandatory licensing or preclearance system, according to the White House.

The administration also issued a national security memorandum directing federal agencies to accelerate AI adoption for defense and intelligence work while requiring systems to be reliable, controllable and subject to existing legal and constitutional safeguards, according to another White House directive.

"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," a White House official said.

The poll also found that voters were also wary of the infrastructure being built to support AI.

Some 56% supported limits on new data center construction, including 69% of Democrats, 55% of independents and 43% of Republicans.

Large data centers have become more prominent in local political debates as technology companies expand facilities that require substantial amounts of electricity, land and water.

The survey also found more opposition to using AI in military decisions.

Fifty-seven percent of registered voters said the U.S. government should not use artificial intelligence to determine the target of a military strike, up from 49% in a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted in August 2025.

The Trump administration has separately directed the military and intelligence community to increase their use of advanced AI systems. Its June national security memorandum requires the Department of War to update guidance on autonomous weapon systems and says commanders and agency heads remain accountable for how AI is used.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted online nationwide and included 4,506 U.S. adults, including 3,526 registered voters.

The poll has a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.