By early 2026, a clear divide had formed between the corridors of power in Washington and the households of the American public. President Donald Trump, strengthened by an alliance with big tech, spent much of the previous year dismantling what he calls “bureaucratic red tape” in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. From revoking safety-focused executive orders to challenging state-level privacy laws, the administration’s “America First” AI policy has emphasized rapid innovation and global dominance over restrictive oversight.
However, a newly released comprehensive 2025 Carleton-CIGI-Ipsos global survey on digital governance shows that the American public is not following this trend: 75 percent of the US respondents and 79 percent of the Canadians favour strong and coordinated frameworks for AI regulation, compared to 26 percent of Americans and 22 percent of Canadians who believe rapid AI innovation and adoption should be prioritized (see Figure 1). Citizens across the United States, Canada and Europe are finding common ground in a surprising area: a strong desire for stricter, not looser, regulation of the digital frontier.
Figure 1 — AI Prioritization: Innovation or Governance
Distrust of the “Wild West”
The dominant narrative from the White House claims that regulation is a European export that hampers American ingenuity. However, data reveals a different picture regarding the psychological effects of a “light-touch” regulatory approach. In Canada and the United States, where the regulatory systems are often seen as more fragmented and lenient, mistrust remains a major obstacle for the tech sector.
While overall trust in the internet has grown modestly since the previous survey in 2021 — rising in the United States from 54 percent to 60 percent, in Canada from 57 percent to 58 percent, in North America from 56 percent to 59 percent, and globally from 63 percent to 67 percent — this trust is fragile and highly dependent on perceived safety. In these countries, the lack of a unified, robust framework, such as Europe’s AI Act or General Data Protection Regulation, appears to correlate with heightened levels of anxiety. This concern is not a relic of the past; it is a persistent reality that reflects a hardening of public attitudes as AI becomes more pervasive.
A Shared Mandate for Governance
The most significant finding for the Trump administration is that its citizens’ appetite for regulation now mirrors that of their European and Canadian counterparts — 85 percent in Europe versus 83 percent in the United States and 84 percent in Canada. The survey indicates a clear consensus that “AI and its uses cannot be left unregulated.”
This is more than a philosophical stance; it is a direct call for government intervention. A staggering 82 percent of people worldwide believe their own governments need to do more to regulate AI — 77 percent in the United States, 83 percent in Canada and 81 percent in Europe. This sentiment marks a clear shift away from the traditional American preference for market-led solutions. In the eyes of today’s consumer, the era of big tech’s “move fast and break things” credo is no longer acceptable when the “breakings” involve personal privacy and democratic integrity.
Specific data points from the survey show why this mandate is so compelling, with 47 percent of Americans believing that AI will ultimately diminish personal privacy, a concern that directly conflicts with the administration’s effort to remove data-reporting “burdens” from tech companies. The figures are similar or higher in Europe and Canada, at 46 percent and 54 percent, respectively.
Figure 2 — Trust in AI Engineers and Creators
It is worth noting the low trust in AI engineers and creators, with only 32 percent of the American public trusting them. This sentiment is similar in Canada, at 31 percent, but trust rises to 42 percent in Europe (see Figure 2). In other words, this lack of confidence indicates that the public does not trust the AI industry to “self-regulate.”
Regarding AI’s impact on democracy, 59 percent of Americans and 57 percent of Europeans agree that “AI is a threat to democracy,” with an even higher percentage (62 percent) of Canadians sharing this view (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 — AI: A Threat to Democracy
A Departure from the Past
Looking back at the 2021 data, the change in public awareness is clear. In 2021, the digital world was mostly viewed through the lens of convenience and connectivity. By 2025, the focus had shifted to sovereignty and safety.
The public has moved past the innovation-versus-regulation binary that dominates political rhetoric. Instead, an overwhelming three-to-one ratio of all citizens believe that regulation should take precedence over unfettered innovation. While the White House views the European Union’s regulatory framework as a threat to American dominance, the Canadian public increasingly sees it as a blueprint for their own digital rights.
President Trump’s strategy of pre-empting state AI laws and prioritizing innovation speed over safeguards may earn him praise in Silicon Valley. However, it conflicts with the views of most of the American public. The findings of the recent Carleton-CIGI-Ipsos survey show that if the US government keeps ignoring the public’s call for strong AI regulation, it risks worsening the “trust deficit” that currently harms the digital economy.
Americans and Canadians are signalling that they are tired of living in a digital Wild West. Instead, they seek a sheriff who values personal privacy and democratic stability over technological dominance.
This work draws on data from the Internet and AI Trust Survey, funded principally by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Insight Grant, Principal Investigator – Fen Hampson, Carleton University), and carried out in partnership with Carleton University.
