A new national survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults, by DealMaker – the leading investment technology platform that lets retail investors invest directly in private companies, and lets companies raise capital on their own terms – shows that 67% of people want everyone to be able to benefit from AI’s growth as retail investors. The survey was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of DealMaker.
As the general public sees gains from AI accrue only to a narrow circle of founders, employees, and venture capitalists, it is driving economic anxiety and concerns about inequality. Sixty-three percent of people surveyed said that they felt AI was going to make inequality worse, with an identical number saying that trillion-dollar IPOs for OpenAI and Anthropic put everyday Americans at risk of buying in at inflated prices while insiders cash out.
Opening up economic benefits from AI is an issue that crosses party lines. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents rarely agree on tech policy, but on this topic, they overwhelmingly do, an increasingly rare occurrence in a divided political landscape: 73% of Democrats, 68% of Republicans, and 67% of Independents all agree that everyday Americans should benefit from AI’s growth.
Both policymakers and Americans want retail investors to get their share of AI’s gains. The House passed the bipartisan INVEST Act in December 2025, now in the Senate, directing the SEC to modernize the accredited investor definition with inflation-adjusted thresholds and new criteria based on education and experience.
Without broader access, people see AI as a source of economic exclusion, not innovation. Seventy-eight percent of people surveyed agreed that America has a problem with economic inequality and 63% felt that AI was going to make inequality worse. When asked how they felt about OpenAI and Anthropic’s going public at valuations reportedly topping $1 trillion, 63% said they believe everyday investors are being put at risk of buying into these companies at inflated valuations once insiders have already captured the bulk of the gains.
Well over half of people surveyed (57%) agreed that companies staying private longer and going public at massive valuations are hurting the broader economy. It’s creating a polarizing dynamic among the public: 58% of people said AI’s impact on inequality was affecting their opinion of these AI giants, but 36% of people surveyed said they would invest in OpenAI before it went public if given the chance.
The generational breakdown flips the usual narrative. Older Americans are often cast as slower to trust new technology. Here, they’re the strongest advocates for making sure regular people share in AI’s upside, with nearly 78% of adults 65+ in agreement with the need for more retail investment, the highest of any age group.
Gen Z (18-24) is the most lukewarm at 55%, the lowest of any group, suggesting possible generational skepticism from an AI-native cohort graduating into an impacted job market. The numbers behind that gap are stark. People 65 and over make up about 20% of the population but hold $85 trillion in assets and control 54% of U.S. stocks, worth over $25 trillion. Gen Z, a similar population share, holds just $6 trillion total.
“SpaceX setting aside an unprecedented share of its IPO float for retail investors proves the retail appetite is there. Our new survey shows the scale of that appetite. Two-thirds of Americans believe anyone who wants to should be able to get a stake in AI’s growth.
“One historic allocation like SpaceX doesn’t meet demand at that scale. Retail investors are the sorts of people who will feel AI’s impact the most, and there’s a growing frustration that they’re being locked out of the best opportunities. With more AI IPOs on the horizon, companies need to utilize the power and possibility of this group,” said Rebecca Kacaba, CEO and co-founder of DealMaker.
This survey was fielded between July 11-20, 2026. These findings arrive as DealMaker continues to push for retail investors to gain access to the kind of high-growth private opportunities that have historically been reserved for venture capitalists and accredited investors, including in AI. The full survey results are available upon request.
About DealMaker
DealMaker is the leading investment technology platform built for companies raising capital directly from retail investors. Founded in 2018, DealMaker has helped its customers raise more than $2.5 billion in capital across more than 1,000 offerings from nearly two million investors in 63 countries. With a suite of tools spanning Regulation CF, Regulation A+, and other exempt offering structures, DealMaker helps issuers run compliant, high-converting campaigns and build lasting relationships with their investor communities. For more information, visit www.dealmaker.tech/.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260825184114/en/
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