Exclusive: Americans back a national AI standard, poll finds
Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
Most Americans say they support a national AI standard and think a patchwork of state laws will make it harder for the U.S. to compete with China, according to a poll shared first with Axios today.
The big picture: Congress is notoriously slow to move on tech policy and is currently considering a moratorium on state-level AI regulation in the reconciliation bill.
- The poll, released by Morning Consult and industry group TechNet, shows that most voters say they prefer a national policy for AI development over an array of state laws.
What they found: 70% of respondents said they're concerned that China could win the AI race, and 67% told pollsters they're worried a patchwork of AI laws could make it more difficult for the U.S. to compete.
- Republicans are slightly more concerned with a patchwork of state laws, at 72% compared with 65% of Democrats and 61% of Independents.
- 69% of people surveyed said they agree that state and local authorities may not have the knowledge or capacity to set national security standards when it comes to AI.
- 69% also told pollsters they think a patchwork of laws would make it harder for smaller companies to develop AI tech.
The bottom line: After being reminded repeatedly that this year there have been over 1,000 different bills focused on AI at the state level, 76% of the people surveyed said they would prefer a single national development policy around AI instead of each state mandating their own.
Methodology: 2,056 registered voters were surveyed online between June 3-4.
- Results have a margin of error of 2± percentage points.
