Daniela Amodei

Factual · Philosophy, ethics and society

“people in developing countries are much more optimistic about AI than people in higher income countries.”

Daniela Amodei, Anthropic president · 29 June 2026 · Daniela Amodei Says Curiosity Is Underrated (Stanford GSB)

Data collected by Anthropic shows people in developing countries are much more optimistic about AI than people in higher-income countries.

Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.

The evidence is the person's or their organisation's own records.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

Judged as of 2026-06-29. True: published Anthropic data or research (for example Economic Index or survey reports) available by that date shows respondents or users in developing or lower-income countries are substantially more optimistic about AI than those in higher-income countries. Mostly true: Anthropic data shows the direction clearly, but the size of the gap is modest rather than 'much', or the country grouping differs slightly. Mixed: Anthropic data shows the pattern on some measures but not others, or the evidence is not clear-cut. Mostly false: the pattern comes only from non-Anthropic sources (Anthropic data does not show it), or Anthropic data shows only a minimal difference. False: Anthropic data shows no such difference, or the opposite.

Evidence

1. What 81,000 people want from AI Anthropic · 18 March 2026 Own record

   “Clear trends emerged in which people in South America, Africa, and much of Asia view AI with more optimism than those in Europe or the United States.”

2. What 81,000 people want from AI Anthropic · 18 March 2026 Own record

   “respondents from Sub-Saharan Africa (18%), Central Asia (17%), and South Asia (17%) were the most likely to say they had none—roughly double the rate in North America (8%), Oceania (8%), and Western Europe (9%).”

3. What 81,000 people want from AI Anthropic · 18 March 2026 Own record

   “There are several possible explanations for the more positive AI sentiment in lower and middle income countries.”

4. Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences Anthropic · 26 June 2026 Own record

   “the average share of tasks people report AI can do for them now is about 10 percentage points lower among high-income countries.”

Reasoning

Anthropic's 81,000-interview study (published before 2026-06-29) reports that people in South America, Africa and much of Asia view AI with more optimism than those in Europe or the United States (E1), and refers to more positive AI sentiment in lower and middle income countries (E3). On one measure the gap is large: respondents in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and South Asia gave the answer 'none' at roughly twice the rate of those in North America, Oceania and Western Europe, though the quoted text does not say what they had none of (E2). However, the report describes the difference as 'more optimism' (E1) and mostly groups respondents by region (E1, E2), though it also refers to more positive sentiment in lower and middle income countries (E3). So the direction is clear, but the claim that people are 'much' more optimistic is only partly quantified.

Cite this claim

Daniela Amodei, “Data collected by Anthropic shows people in developing countries are much more optimistic about AI than people in higher-income countries.” (said 29 June 2026). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_93eae2b675e4, method 0.1.0+28da144b. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_93eae2b675e4