Americans Conflicted About AI and Demand Guardrails, New Fathom Report Finds

Latest report reveals how Americans use AI, what excites and concerns them most, and who they trust to shape the future of this technology.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fathom, an independent nonprofit building the solutions society needs to thrive in an AI-driven world, today published their second annual report on AI usage and sentiment – Rising AI Use, Rising Calls for Action – which comes at a crucial juncture for American technology governance and innovation.

Americans are using AI more than ever – nearly seven in ten people have used it, with half using it daily or weekly. Despite this high adoption rate, Americans lag considerably in AI enthusiasm compared to the rest of the world. Americans are more excited than concerned about AI, but only slightly, with the public torn between enthusiasm for this technology's immense potential to create good and fear of its impact in their lives and communities. Yet Americans do know what they want: across party lines, more than 75% agree on the need for guardrails around children's safety, education, and workforce protections.

"Americans understand that the pace of AI innovation is too rapid for traditional models of government regulation to keep pace, but they also don't trust AI companies alone to prioritize safety and security over profits," said Andrew Freedman, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Fathom. "Our latest research shows Americans want a voice in how AI develops, with strong bipartisan agreement on the need for guardrails. This creates space for new approaches to AI oversight."

A rare window of opportunity exists to establish governance that allows technology to evolve while keeping the American people at the table. Policymakers must act decisively, and soon, to establish governance that sustains both American AI leadership and public trust.

You can read the full report here.

For more information, or to schedule a briefing, please contact us here. You can also read more on our most recent Substack post here.

Key Findings + Background

The report Rising AI Use, Rising Calls for Action draws on national polling including more than 2,036 interviews, as well as focus groups across the political spectrum in California and Ohio. Together, this quantitative and qualitative work resulted in the following four key findings:

The public is using AI more than ever, and adoption continues to accelerate.

• Awareness of AI has increased: 82% of the public have seen, read, or heard about AI in the last year, up from 77% in 2024 – topping public awareness of other topics such as Social Security, Medicare, and healthcare cost issues.
• Usage has also surged, and AI has achieved remarkable mainstream adoption. Nearly 7 in 10 people have used AI, with nearly half using it daily or weekly: a major increase from the year before.
• In their personal lives, Americans primarily use AI for asking questions and getting general information. Basic search is used more than twice as much as more sophisticated use cases such as generating or editing photos, summarizing articles or web content, or translating or learning languages. This suggests significant room for growth as users discover AI's expanding capabilities.
• Americans interact with AI primarily through search engines and social media rather than AI-specific apps, signaling that AI is still mostly seen and experienced as an add-on benefit of existing technology, rather than a standalone tool

Public excitement around AI continues to tick up – but Americans have concerns about the technology's impact on education and jobs.

• Americans remain more excited than concerned about AI, though the margin is narrow. Positive sentiment has ticked up modestly over the past year (from 32% to 36%), while concern has also increased (from 30% to 33%)
• Ambivalence – the percentage of those who are equally excited and concerned about AI – remains significant at 27%, down from 34% the previous year, as the public forms clearer opinions about the technology.
• Workforce disruption is the leading area of concern: nearly half of respondents believe AI will cause significant unemployment, while 37% believe it will create new opportunities.
• Education is another top area of concern: 30% of the public thinks that AI will have a negative impact on K-12 education and the well-being of our children, reflecting parents' and educators' desire for thoughtful implementation.

The public wants guardrails on AI

• Americans across party lines want AI guardrails: more than 75% support guardrails around children's safety, disinformation, cyber-attacks, privacy, education, transparency, and human oversight of AI.
• Strong majorities also support protecting jobs or providing economic support for workers navigating transitions.

The public's strong demand for AI oversight creates a unique opportunity for innovative governance approaches. 

• 56% of Americans trust independent subject matter experts to govern AI, with consistent support across party lines – presenting a clear pathway forward.
• Only 35% of the public trusts the federal government to provide effective and appropriate AI governance. Trust in tech companies is slightly higher at 50%.
• Only 43% are confident in the ability of government and tech companies to collaborate effectively to regulate AI.

About Fathom:

Fathom is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that finds, builds, and scales the solutions needed for our transition to a world with AI. We believe this transition must be guided by the voices and values of all people, not just technologists. Through deep public engagement, policy innovation, and cross-sector collaboration, Fathom is pioneering AI governance models that match the pace of technological change, foster public trust, and unleash American innovation. Sign up to our Substack to stay in the know on AI Governance, subscribe to Fathom's Dispatch for daily AI news delivered to your inbox, and learn more at http://fathom.org.

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SOURCE Fathom AI Inc.