AP Photo/Richard Drew
Stories about AI dominate tech and science blogs and are regular features of numerous newspapers and news sites across the U.S., but when it comes to what sources Americans use for breaking news, the technology is almost completely ignored, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
The poll was conducted from Dec. 8 to 14, 2025 to ask a nationwide sample of 3,560 adults what news sources they seek out first for breaking news stories; the margin of error was +/- 1.9 percentage points. The respondents came from Pew’s American Trends Panel, and the results were compared to the pollster’s past survey conducted from Feb. 22 to March 4, 2018 that asked similar questions about news media consumption habits. From Pew’s methodology memo:
The question in this analysis had different response options in 2018 and 2025, so comparisons should be made with caution. Four options appeared in both surveys: preferred news organization; search engines; social media; and friends, family and acquaintances. “News aggregating website or apps (such as Google News, Apple News or Flipboard)” was an option in 2018 but not in 2025. We added the options “AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT or Gemini),” “I don’t look for more information” and “Some other source” in 2025. We also added Google and Bing as examples of search engines in the 2025 survey.
According to this new Pew poll, when U.S. adults want information about a breaking news event, 36% say they first look to “their preferred news organization,” 28% used search engines like Google or Bing, 19% turned to social media, and 5% ask family, friends or acquaintances for information.
Only 1% of the poll respondents — below the poll’s 1.8% margin of error — said they turn first to AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Grok on Elon Musk’s X platform. Five percent of respondents said they consult other sources or don’t look for more information.
Image via Pew Research Center.
Comparing to the 2018 poll, Americans then were more likely to turn to their preferred news origination (54%) but less likely to seek out search engines (15%) or social media (9%) than today.
Pew’s report on the latest poll results noted that “relatively few Americans say they use AI chatbots for news in general,” but those who sought out breaking news on search engines “still might see AI-generated summaries.”
The poll results predictably revealed variation by age group, with Americans more likely to use a preferred news organization the older they were, and more likely to list a search engine or social media as their first choice the younger they were, but the disinterest in AI was steady across all ages.
Image via Pew Research Center.
Only 2% of Americans 18-29 or 30-49 listed AI chatbots as their preference for breaking news, and the other two age demographics, 50-64 and 65+, both registered as less than 1%.
Read the poll here.
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