A large majority of millennial and Gen Z Americans see some of the world’s wealthiest technology CEOs — including Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman and Elon Musk — as more like “super villains” than trusted innovators, a new survey suggests, a perception that may be helping fuel rising interest in socialism.
The CNBC Generation Labs survey asked respondents ages 18 to 34 about leading figures in the artificial intelligence industry. Across the board, most young adults said they did not trust any of the names presented to them.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp ranked as the least trusted tech leader in the poll, with 81% of respondents saying they lacked confidence that he would act responsibly or prioritize the public’s best interests.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei also drew deep skepticism, with 75% of young adults saying they did not trust either executive.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk each faced similar levels of distrust, with about 70% of respondents saying they did not have faith in them.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was viewed as the most trusted among the AI leaders named in the survey, though even he was met with suspicion: 65% of millennial and Gen Z respondents said they did not trust him.
“I would say they’re like super villains; they’re just speeding up the end of the world,” said Anthony Simpson, 28, an investor who closely follows the technology and AI sectors.
“They’re not doing anything for the greater good; they’re doing it for themselves and hurting the quality of water, air, food, and more — all so they can make more money, and for what? It’s not like they don’t have plenty of it already,” he said.
That is a sharp contrast to just a decade ago, when graduating millennials rushed to tech giants like Google, Facebook and Apple in pursuit of jobs on the cutting edge of tech and AI — and when figures like Musk and Zuckerberg had positive approval ratings, according to multiple polls from 2016.
“Years ago [Zuckerberg] was thought of as such a smart, creative person and we were grateful because Facebook gave us a way of connection,” Marlee Lopez, 27, told The Post.
“But it seems to me that when a lot of these tech guys reach a certain level of wealth, it stops being about connecting people and more about how they can continue building their empire. Elon Musk just became a trillionaire; imagine what that money could do for the world?” she said.
“Yet, there’s a housing crisis, the food is all poison, people can’t afford child care and medical coverage, etc,” Lopez added.
She and Simpson also pointed out that in 2015, Altman infamously admitted on camera at a conference that he believes AI will likely lead to the end of the world.
“That right there just shows you, they don’t really care about us, it’s all about profit,” Simpson said.
The growing anger and disillusionment at what Simpson and Lopez described as their “billionaire overlords” is also bleeding into a growing distrust of the government.
It is likely responsible for the surge in young people embracing socialism, according to the poll and statements given to The Post.
Almost half of the 1,000 18-34-year-old Americans surveyed by CNBC said they held favorable views of the Democratic Socialists of America, while 80% held a negative view of the American economy, according to the poll.
“The government is enabling them by failing to place any boundaries and just letting them run rampant, hurting the environment, the water supply, and hoarding wealth that could be reinvested into making the world a better place,” Simpson said.
