The tech industry’s standing in the eyes of the US public has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last few years. Where Americans were once excited for new tech products and industry ideas, they’re now exhausted by the sector’s intrusions into their lives, whether with AI-generated slop or the data centers that power it.
Pretty much everyone has received that message loud and clear: political strategists are issuing frenzied memos about the data center backlash, while tech financiers are now forced to consider the financial cost of AI hatred.
At this point, there’s just one group that hasn’t caught on, and it’s the one holding all the cards: AI executives.
As Wired observed, top tech CEOs are increasingly trying to out-message their way around the AI backlash. To the AI billionaires, the issue isn’t that AI is making everybody’s life worse for the benefit of a few ultra-powerful corporations, or even that data centers are unsightly structures that are nearly impossible to live next to. Rather, it’s an issue of “trust,” an entirely subjective concept that can be easily overcome with a little razzle-dazzle.
