Poll: GOP voters skeptical of AI as Trump steams ahead - Politico

Well, well, well. A POLITICO poll has delivered a delicious slice of irony: only 13% of Trump voters think the federal government should keep its mitts off AI. The party of deregulation, the party that brought us the 'whatever, it'll be fine' approach to everything from banking to emissions, has suddenly discovered a burning passion for regulation. 59% of Trump voters want the government to set AI regulations, and about 3 out of 4 want either strict rules or broad principles. That's not just a majority; that's a 'please save us from the tech bros' majority.

Trump, meanwhile, is steaming ahead with deregulation, presumably assuming his base shares his enthusiasm for letting Silicon Valley do whatever it wants. The poll suggests otherwise. It's almost as if the people who voted for the 'drain the swamp' candidate are now demanding the government step in to drain the AI swamp. The cognitive dissonance is so thick you could cut it with a chatbot.

So here we are: a Republican base begging for regulation, a Republican administration sprinting in the opposite direction, and a tech industry watching the whole farce unfold. Time to watch a GOP administration square off against GOP voters. Place your bets on who blinks first—my money's on the voters, because they'll just get called 'socialists' and told to stop being scared. Fun times.