Trust in artificial intelligence has a partisan gap, as Democrats’ views of AI or AI-driven companies have become increasingly unfavorable, while Republicans’ views have only grown more positive.
In 2024, Republicans’ versus Democrats’ views of AI companies were roughly the same, according to the 2026 Axios Harris Poll 100 rankings. Fast forward two years, and Democrats have almost no favorable view of such companies.
The shift in opinions over the last two years comes with a new presidential administration that values AI advancements, focusing on deregulation, infrastructure expansion and national competitiveness, while reversing earlier federal oversight measures.
The survey, which ranks companies’ reputations through the lens of Americans, found that 44% of Republicans said that their opinions of AI have become more positive in the past year, compared to 35% of Democrats. This is mirrored in a 2025 Pew Research Center poll, which found that Democrats have less trust than Republicans do in the U.S. to regulate AI.
Overall, 44% of Americans have a lot or some trust in the country to regulate AI use well, compared to 47% who have not too much or no trust at all, according to the Pew Research Center. This gap widens among political parties, as 54% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have a lot or some trust in the U.S. to regulate AI, while only 36% of Democrats and those who lean Democrat said the same.
When it comes to AI’s opportunity to harm career opportunities and wages in the coming years, 40% of Democrats expected to be negatively impacted, while 32% of Republicans said the same, according to the Axios Harris poll.
This worry is also reflected in younger Americans’ concerns that AI will take over entry-level jobs. As the Democratic Party holds a substantial edge among younger registered voters, the poll found that 42% of Generation Z respondents believe AI will harm their job opportunities and wages, as opposed to 33% of millennials, 39% of Generation X and 37% of baby boomers.
AI companies’ reputations have only skewed more and more favorable among Republicans than Democrats since 2024. While OpenAI’s score was only 1 percentage point higher among Republicans than Democrats in 2024, that favorability jumped to 12 points higher for those who identify with the GOP.
A slew of AI companies also found themselves in a growing partisan gap that leaned to the right, including TikTok, Nvidia, Meta and X. Anthropic, which was included in the poll for the first time in 2026, only has a 1-point partisan gap.
John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, said that “if you look at this basket of AI firms, with the exception of Anthropic, they’ve all shifted to the right as their innovation and market dominance appears unrivaled in the years to come.”
AI companies with slimmer partisan gaps generally had higher reputational scores, with OpenAI ranking No. 68 and Anthropic No. 15 among the 100 most visible brands in America.
Earlier this year, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered all U.S. federal agencies to immediately cease using Anthropic’s artificial intelligence products after the company refused to allow its technology to be used for fully autonomous weapons and the mass surveillance of American citizens.
On the other hand, Public sentiment toward OpenAI has soured in part due to its pivot toward corporate profitability. Originally founded as a nonprofit with an open-source ethos, OpenAI transitioned to a capped-profit structure closely tied to Microsoft. Critics — including OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk in his high-profile lawsuit — argue that this abandoned the original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
Growing opposition to AI among Americans has only increased over the years.
Half of U.S. adults said the increased use of AI in daily life is more concerning than exciting, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey.
