Key Takeaways
- A new report from the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) found that a large majority of Americans want more AI regulation.
- More notably, Democrat and Republican voters want AI regulation at essentially the same level, representing a bipartisan agreement in the US.
- For businesses, this kind of agreement across the aisle is rare, which means taking a measured and regulated approach to your AI usages is vital.
AI regulation is apparently a bipartisan issue, with a new study showing that both Democratic and Republican voters are heavily in favor of more robust standards for the technology.
The report pointed to a wide range of measures that AI companies should address, like a guaranteed “off” switch, regulatory guardrails, and pre-release safety tests.
In 2026, businesses need to consider the fact that everyday users are still quite skeptical about AI and want to see it reigned in before it’s too late.
AI Regulations Are a Two-Party Issue
According to a report titled The AI Safety Majority from the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI), Democratic and Republican voters in the US believe that AI regulation is important.
More specifically, 82% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans believe that the industry needs regulatory guardrails to remain safe.
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This report surveyed 1,007 U.S. likely voters across the country to collect data in regard to how Americans feel about AI.
What Kind of AI Regulation Do Americans Want?
Democratic and Republican voters weren’t just aligned when it came to applying required guardrails for AI regulation. Across the survey, the party voters were mostly on the same page when it came to various flagship items of AI regulation, including:
- Guaranteed off switch: 88% D vs 83% R
- Congress address loss of control: 87% D vs 82% R
- Don’t build until controllable: 84% D vs 83% R
- Mandatory pre-release safety tests: 72% D vs 72% R
Simply put, there are very few issues on which these types of voters agree, but when it comes to regulating AI, the partisan gap is a lot smaller.
AI Concern Remains High
In 2026, AI is not the silver bullet many businesses hoped it would be. AI errors from simple typos to full-on database deletions have eroded public trust in the technology so much that most people are more concerned than excited.
The data from AIPI found that people are far more concerned about the negative impacts of AI (56%) than they are excited about the changes from its growth (18%).
All that to say, businesses need to be cautiously hesitant when it comes to diving all-in on AI technology. Without a human-led strategy, you could end up with a lot more problems than solutions.
