AI labs don't seem to care that consumers hate them
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Get on the AI train or get left behind. That messaging from frontier labs about the world-changing nature of AI suggests they're not focused on addressing consumer backlash to the technology.
Why it matters: They may regret that approach when they go public and have to work overtime to turn AI haters into customers.
What they're saying: "Tech people have never been great communicators," Paul Argenti, corporate reputation expert and Dartmouth College professor, tells Axios.
- "The first company that actually understands the power of corporate communication and shaping messaging for their product is going to win," he added, recalling Google's early ads showing a father messaging his daughter.
- He says Google and Microsoft have a leg up over frontier labs because they have "more savvy" communications strategies.
State of play: Consumers are increasingly skeptical about AI, but that doesn't seem to be changing the messaging from AI CEOs.
- Half of Americans are more concerned than excited about the use of AI, according to Pew, and Gen Z's excitement about the technology sits at 22%, according to Gallup.
- Anthropic's Dario Amodei recently reiterated his concern about AI causing a "serious employment crisis" right after his company unveiled a model so powerful it only gave access to a few select partners.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called this "fear-based marketing," adding that the doomerism hasn't helped.
Threat level: Consumer sentiment could fuel the increasingly negative response to data centers that are needed to power AI.
- 48 data center projects worth over $150 billion were blocked or delayed in 2025, according to CNBC.
- In the past week, Maine moved forward with a statewide data center ban, and a $6 billion data center in Missouri was blocked after voters ousted half its city council over the project.
Yes, but: Even as pushback builds, some feel like they have no choice but to use AI.
- A 20-year-old at UNC-Chapel Hill told Gen Z expert Rachel Janfaza and venture capitalist Lori Cashman she feels she has to learn how to use AI even if it conflicts with her own ethics in order to stay competitive in the job market, as part of a new report.
The bottom line: You don't want customers to feel like they have to use your product under threat of severe economic distress.
- Especially once you're a public company that has to prove quarterly revenue growth to shareholders.
