Trump’s AI Bet Clouded by Unemployment and Inflation Fears
Voters are becoming increasingly skeptical about its promise and more worried by its perils.
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As the Trump administration tells it, artificial intelligence is on the verge of ushering in a new economic boom like that the US enjoyed in the 1990s, when real incomes climbed, the unemployment rate tumbled to the lowest in decades, stocks surged and fiscal deficits turned into surpluses.
Plenty of others, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week, aren’t quite so sure. And importantly for President Donald Trump and his party, voters are among those questioning the wisdom of pulling out all the stops to promote AI, as Bloomberg reported this week. In off-year ballots last month, there were early signs of an AI backlash that could gather steam in the midterm elections of 2026.