Americans are optimistic AI will grow the economy — but not that it will create jobs in the process, per the first release of the new Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index out today.

Why it matters: The AI boom is often criticized as a jobless one, which may explain why sentiment continues to run so negative on what is otherwise such a transformative technology.

The big picture: The new monthly Axios-CivicScience index tracks Americans' views across six measures: AI's effects on quality of life, society, jobs and economic growth, plus support for AI development and new data centers.

How it works: The data was collected in online polling from Oct. 1–26, with more than 7,300 respondents ages 18+.

By the numbers: October's net sentiment was 41.8 on a 0–100 scale, indicating broad negativity on AI.

• Of the six components, only economic growth had a positive sentiment score.

Yes, but: While economic growth net sentiment (positive responses minus negative responses) was +10, "create more jobs" sentiment was -30.4, indicating a massive gap between what people think AI will do collectively and the impact it'll have individually.

• The grim outlook matches other recent polls, like an Axios-Generation Lab survey of young adults in August; more than a quarter said they'd lost a job to AI or knew someone who had.

What's next: The index will be released the first Friday of every month starting in December.

Binance halted trading yesterday after hackers allegedly linked to North Korea stole more than $6 billion, the largest crypto hack in history.

Why it matters: The attack comes after a wave of high-profile cyber intrusions and data breaches during "Black October," when a series of security incidents and AI-discovered bugs triggered fears of a global crisis.

Driving the news: Binance co-founder Yi He said on X that the crypto exchange had suspended deposits and withdrawals. "User funds are safe," she wrote. "Binance will cover all hacking losses."

• An estimated $6.3 billion was drained from wallets in the incident, Binance said, although the exchange and partners managed to freeze about $3 billion that can potentially be recovered.
• "This is unprecedented," said Kevin March, a co-founder of JPEG Trading, a cryptocurrency trading firm that closely tracked the hack to monitor market conditions.
• An initial investigation linked the hack to a compromised laptop from one Binance engineer. That access allowed an attacker to gain access to Binance's systems to make withdrawals, the exchange said.

Zoom in: Researchers from TRM Labs and Pangolin Intelligence found that the attack appeared to be the work of a North Korean hacking collective.

• "This was absolutely North Korea," Nick Carlsen, a senior TRM investigator, told the Wall Street Journal.
• The country has turned hacking and scams into an industrial-scale scourge, focusing on crypto heists and a widespread practice of tricking Western companies into hiring North Korean workers.

The big picture: If estimates hold up, the Binance hack would be the biggest crypto attack in history.

• In 2025, North Korea-linked hackers stole about $1.5 billion worth of crypto from the Bybit exchange.

Between the lines: Crypto is a relatively common hacking target, but massive attacks can leave smaller exchanges vulnerable to collapse due to the potential for panicked withdrawals.

• Binance's size makes it more insulated, March said. "If this happened to any other business in crypto other than Binance, it would've been catastrophic."

The intrigue: Reports of a breach came just hours after Polymarket confirmed it was facing a cyberattack, prompting the decentralized prediction market operator to pause trading for an hour after an attacker made off with at least $2.7 million in user funds.

• Researchers at Hudson Rock tied the Polymarket incident to a breach involving third-party website monitoring tool DebugBear, which said earlier yesterday it was responding to its own security incident.

Democrats weighing 2028 presidential bids are piling onto the AI hate wave in their messaging, per an analysis shared exclusively with Axios.

Why it matters: Democrats are turning AI anxiety into a political rallying cry ahead of 2028, while Republicans remain divided over how to respond.

Driving the news: 2028 contenders including Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Jon Ossoff and more have all increased their AI commentary in recent months, per new research from Upswing, conducted on behalf of Reset Tech, a nonprofit advocating for tech regulation.

• Among 21 Democrats named as potential 2028 contenders, tech mentions on X nearly quadrupled, and press release mentions nearly tripled since the start of the year.
• Tech is now the second-most common topic in releases, trailing only jobs and the economy, with the highest concentration of mentions around data centers and phone bans in schools.
• To gather the data, Upswing analyzed nearly 30,000 X posts from 38 accounts associated with 21 potential presidential contenders and 3,868 press releases from 16 officeholders between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15.

Between the lines: Democrats are galvanizing around AI as a winning issue.

• Democrats are "taking a meaningful advantage" on AI after the topic was initially seen as a "jump ball" for both major political parties, Rishi Bharwani, U.S. director of Reset Tech, told Axios.
• AI regulation has gone from the back burner to a top issue over the last six months, he added.
• While the economy is still what matters most to voters, AI is increasingly part of the financial conversation as it dominates markets and the macroeconomic backdrop.

Zoom in: It's not just messaging.

• While data center bans have been proposed in Democratic- and Republican-majority states, New York is so far the only one to pass a moratorium.
• House Democrats drafted a resolution opposing government bailouts for AI companies if the so-called "bubble" bursts.
• There are also a variety of legislative proposals, including model transparency measures and kill switches.

The other side: Republicans are caught between their base being concerned by AI and President Trump's unfettered embrace of the industry.

• Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump to varying degrees. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), for example, has been among the loudest about state-level regulation on the technology.

The bottom line: Democrats are coalescing around a more critical stance on AI, but whether it meaningfully impacts elections remains to be seen.

• U.S. spy agencies found that a businesswoman who developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang funneled information to Beijing. (New York Times)
• Reddit is moving to become a primarily logged-in experience, marking one of the most significant shifts in its 21-year history. (Axios)
• Amazon shares fell sharply after it reported plummeting free cash flow tied to its heavy AI investments. (Axios)
• DoorDash is framing its $17 billion Instacart acquisition as a way to help small businesses fend off Amazon and Walmart. (Axios)

@Prof_Oak_, the prolific biopharma poster on X, outed himself this week as Cody Tranbarger, the one-person operator of biotech firm Mithril Medicine, which was acquired by Anthropic.