In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll:

Plus polling on AI, military spending, nuclear energy, and nuclear weapons

  • 63% of Americans think AI is advancing too quickly, 24% think it is advancing at about the right pace, and only 2% think it is advancing too slowly. Majorities of Democrats (68%), Independents (65%), and Republicans (56%) say AI is advancing too quickly
  • 73% of Americans say they do not trust AI to make ethical decisions. Only 11% say they do. Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to trust AI to make ethical decisions, though only 22% do and 69% don't
  • 30% of Americans strongly or somewhat favor increasing Department of Defense spending from $891 billion in 2026 to $1.14 trillion in 2027. 55% oppose the increase. 65% of Republicans favor it, compared to only 11% of Democrats
  • 23% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War; far more (61%) disapprove. About half (51%) of Republicans approve while 30% disapprove. 90% of Democrats disapprove
  • 60% of Americans think the U.S. is spending too much on the war in Iran, 19% think it is spending about the right amount, and only 5% think it is spending too little. Majorities of of Democrats (85%) and Independents (67%) say spending is too high, compared to 28% of Republicans
  • 31% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of the U.S. assisting Saudi Arabia in developing nuclear energy for civilian purposes and 44% disapprove
  • Majorities of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about Iran (82%), North Korea (85%), Pakistan (72%), Saudi Arabia (69%), and Israel (64%) possessing nuclear weapons. Half (51%) are concerned about Ukraine possessing nuclear weapons
  • 77% of Americans correctly identify the U.S. as possessing nuclear weapons, and 75% identify Russia. Smaller shares identify China (67%), North Korea (60%), Israel (45%), the United Kingdom (39%), India (35%), Pakistan (34%), and France (33%) as nuclear-armed countries

See the toplines and crosstabs for the July 25 - 27, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll

Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,559 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, geographic region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.3%.

Image: Getty (Andrew Harnik / Staff)

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