FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
- Snap's CEO Evan Spiegel warned that tech executives need to worry about "societal pushback" to AI.
- He isn't alone — Sam Altman also recently said that AI is becoming unpopular.
- Spiegel still remains optimistic in Snap's AI investments.
The tech industry is betting big on AI. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says executives may be misreading the public mood.
In a recent episode of "Lenny's Podcast," Spiegel warned of growing dissatisfaction with the technology — and said consumers may not embrace it as quickly as tech leaders expect.
He said that could lead to a "huge amount of societal pushback" as people grapple with its impact on jobs and their energy expenses.
"We're in an industry where so much of the conversation is focused on technology," he said. "People are massively underestimating the role that human adoption and human comfort with advances in artificial intelligence will determine its deployment. I think technology leaders think that folks will just blindly adopt new technology as it comes out."
Spiegel isn't alone. In March, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, said AI was becoming less popular, citing concerns tied to layoffs and rising energy demand. A March NBC News poll asked registered voters across America if they had a favorable view of AI — only 26% of respondents said yes.
The only topics with a lower favorability score in the poll were the Democratic Party and Iran.
Even so, Snap is continuing to heavily invest in AI. The company has integrated the technology across Snapchat, including personalized chatbots and AI-powered image tools. In November, Snap inked a multiyear, $400 million deal with Perplexity AI to roll out a search tool.
That push has also coincided with job cuts. In mid-April, the company said it would lay off 16% of its global workforce. In an internal memo obtained by Business Insider, Spiegel pointed to AI-driven productivity gains as part of the company's broader shift.
"We have already witnessed small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress across several important initiatives," he wrote in the memo. "To everyone continuing on this journey: change of this magnitude and at this speed is never easy, and it will not be seamless."
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