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Americans are growing increasingly anxious about artificial intelligence in 2025, with concerns about governance and personal data topping the list. A new study by Cybernews analyzing Google Trends data from January to October 2025 highlights which AI-related topics are driving the most public worry.
Control and Regulation Lead Concerns
The study found that questions around AI governance, laws, and regulations generated the highest anxiety levels throughout most of the year. Keywords like “is AI legal” and “AI regulations” saw the strongest search interest, reflecting public unease over the absence of a federal AI framework in the U.S.
Notably, interest in this category spiked sharply in late May through June, coinciding with state-level AI regulatory developments in Texas and California.
Data and Privacy Anxiety Surpasses Mid-Year
Closely following regulatory concerns, public worry about data privacy and protection grew steadily, eventually overtaking regulation by mid-year.
Searches for terms such as “AI privacy” and “is AI private” surged as high-profile reports from major AI firms highlighted potential security threats, including prompt injection attacks and data theft campaigns.
Americans are increasingly conscious of how their personal and business data interacts with AI systems.
Bias, Misinformation, and Ethics See Gradual Rise
While concerns about bias, ethics, and AI-generated misinformation remained less prominent than regulation or privacy, interest in these areas increased steadily across 2025.
This suggests growing awareness of AI’s societal and ethical impacts, even if these issues are not yet the public’s primary focus.
Job Displacement Anxiety Peaks Late in the Year
Despite widespread media coverage of tech layoffs, public anxiety about AI-related job loss remained low for most of 2025. Keywords like “AI job loss” and “AI taking jobs” ranked lowest among the five categories analyzed.
However, by late October, interest surged following announcements of major layoffs at companies such as Amazon, signaling a rising awareness of AI’s workforce impact.
The Big Picture: Americans Take AI Seriously
The study demonstrates that Americans are no longer viewing AI as a distant or abstract technology. Instead, they are critically evaluating its implications for governance, privacy, ethics, and employment.
Although regulatory and privacy concerns dominate, interest across all five categories grew, indicating that public attention is broadening as AI tools become increasingly integrated into daily life.
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