AI Use Tops 1 Billion Users as 71% of Americans Oppose Local Data Centers
Updated
Updated · MIT Technology Review · Oct 5
AI Use Tops 1 Billion Users as 71% of Americans Oppose Local Data Centers
1 articles · Updated · MIT Technology Review · Oct 5
Summary
ChatGPT reached 1 billion monthly users in May and Gemini logged 950 million in July, even as public attitudes toward AI turn sharply more negative.
71% of U.S. adults told Gallup they would oppose a new AI data center in their area, while Pew found more Americans expect AI to harm them and society than help.
Half of U.S. adults now say they use a chatbot—more than double 2023 levels—and one in four use one daily; across 38 OECD countries, more than a third used generative AI in the past three months.
The split appears tied less to the tools themselves than to backlash against companies pushing AI into daily life, with pessimism strongest in higher-adoption regions of the Global North.
More than 2,100 AI bills have been passed or proposed across all 50 U.S. states, suggesting regulation and open-source alternatives could still shape how the technology spreads.