For years, Silicon Valley executives warned artificial intelligence would transform society, replace jobs and perhaps pose existential risks. They built products grounded in what should be considered the largest copyright infringement of human history. They fired their own coders who helped build their AI while warning more firings were to come — not just in tech but throughout all industries. They told artists, writers and musicians that machines trained on their cultural contributions will outperform them.

And then something unexpected happened. The American public didn’t cheer.

In offices across the U.S., workers are hesitant to use AI products they are being told will soon do their jobs better. Medical professionals scoff at the idea that an AI-enabled machine could offer better patient care. People refuse to choose sycophantic AI companions that in some cases have encouraged self-harm.

While some AI products have proved fun or useful, Americans are increasingly suspicious of the technology as a whole.

Americans aren’t irrationally afraid of innovation. We still line up for the newest incrementally updated iPhone. The public also isn’t resistant to AI because it doesn’t get it. The mistrust Big Tech has come to realize has calcified over years of abuse. This is a problem of the companies’ own doing. Poll after poll shows Americans are not buying the AI hype. Moreover, the public is sending a message to the wannabe AI oligarchs: You’ve made your bed; now sit in it.

Big Tech has a major accountability and responsibility problem. But the tech bros see it as nothing more than a serious public relations problem. So get ready for the rehabilitation campaign.

Meta is launching a workforce academy to train tradespeople to build the data centers required for its AI ambitions. Anthropic is creating Claude Corps, almost assuredly named to invoke positive connotations with public fellowships such as AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, placing young people in nonprofits to spread AI adoption. OpenAI and Microsoft are partnering to train teachers to use AI.

Each announcement arrives wrapped in the language of social good as if to scream, “Big Tech wants to give back!”

But Americans shouldn’t buy that narrative. You cannot spend two decades building social media platforms that fuel misinformation, destabilize institutions and harm children, and then expect approval for a new technology that will hyperscale these problems. You cannot train systems on humanity’s books, journalism, music and art without permission and expect creators to celebrate. You cannot tell people their jobs are at risk, lay off workers, replace customer service with chatbots and expect standing ovations. And you certainly cannot spend years treating regulation as a threat, suddenly position yourself as society’s trusted guide into your ideal future while evading accountability and then act bewildered when the public rejects your God-machine.

What makes this moment remarkable is how out of touch these tech barons are. The relationship between Silicon Valley and the public is purely extractive. Their wealth doesn’t feed into Main Street; it is sent almost exclusively to California and Wall Street. The AI business model is about as selfish and inhumane of a setup as possible.

That’s not hyperbole. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s words describe the gobsmacking greed and disdain Big Tech has toward the basic principles of humanity. “People talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model — but it also takes a lot of energy to train a human. It takes about 20 years of life — and all the food you consume during that time — before you become smart.”

Tech CEOs have fundamentally destroyed any grace the public was willing to lend. Americans see their business model extracting data, attention, culture and natural resources that are needed to survive, all for its own profit. The benefits only flow upward to billionaires while communities absorb the costs. That is why the public remains unconvinced.

Meta’s training academy may help some workers. Anthropic’s fellowships may support nonprofits. OpenAI may help some teachers use ChatGPT. But none of that will erase the public’s realization that AI is being built for companies rather than for people.

No fellowship, academy or glossy public opinion campaign can repair what years of extraction and broken promises have eroded. Silicon Valley spent years teaching the public what it values. Now it is asking to be believed.

But trust, once squandered, is far harder to build than the next model update.

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J.B. Branch is director of federal AI governance and technology policy at Public Citizen; he leads the nonprofit organization’s federal advocacy on artificial intelligence, technology policy and consumer protection. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an affiliate of the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

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