Voters of both parties want tighter AI regulation, poll finds

EXCLUSIVEArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceVoters of both parties want tighter AI regulation, poll findsA new survey from the AI Policy Institute finds bipartisan support for legislation that targets powerful AI systems.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Donald Trump in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 17.Anna Moneymaker / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 29, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTBy Jared PerloAn overwhelming majority of likely voters want powerful AI systems to undergo mandatory formal safety reviews before they are released to the public, according to a new survey about Americans’ views on AI, going further than the existing Trump administration policy of opt-in reviews for new advanced models.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The poll, conducted by Washington, D.C.-based AI Policy Institute (AIPI), a non-partisan research organization, found that Republicans were more enthusiastic about government-led safety testing for AI models than Democrats, though more than half of voters supported such a measure regardless of their political affiliation. The survey results are the latest sign of Americans’ bipartisan desire for stronger AI regulations in the face of advancing AI capabilities, representing a shift from earlier findings that Republicans were more skeptical than Democrats of government intervention on AI issues. “We’re currently seeing the government take a very active interest in managing the risks of AI systems and deciding what AI systems are safe enough to release,” said Peter Wildeford, the director of policy at the AI Policy Network, a policy advocacy group affiliated with AIPI. “Americans want to do more on AI safety.”AIPI asked 1,007 likely voters across the country to choose between a small set of response options for each question. The poll was conducted on June 11 and 12 and required participants to opt in t...