With the deadline to file taxes a week away, a record number of voters say their taxes are too high, according to the latest Fox News Poll. They are also bothered by the rich not paying their fair share and how the government uses their money. In addition, three-quarters feel government spending is wasteful — up almost 20 points since last year.

Last year, 57% said a great deal (44%) or almost all (13%) of government spending was inefficient; now that’s up 18 points, with 75% feeling that way (53% a great deal, 22% almost all).

 FOX NEWS POLL: BROAD ANXIETY ABOUT AI DOESN’T EXTEND TO JOBS

The increase in those thinking spending is wasteful is seen among most demographics, with the biggest bumps among Democrats and independents. Three-quarters of Republicans think government spending is wasteful, down from more than 8 in 10 in March 2025.

Voters are also down on how the Trump administration has handled identifying and cutting wasteful government spending, with nearly two-thirds, 64%, calling their efforts only fair (20%) or poor (44%), up from 56% last March (13% only fair, 43% poor).

While there is broad bipartisan agreement that a significant share of government spending is wasteful and inefficient — with roughly three-quarters of Democrats, Republicans, and independents saying so — a sharp partisan divide emerges on the Trump administration’s handling of identifying and cutting that waste: nearly all Democrats (90%) and a large majority of independents (80%) say it is not doing a good job, while 7-in-10 Republicans (69%) give it a positive rating.

A record 70% of voters think the taxes they pay are too high — up 11 points from last March and surpassing the previous high of 64% in March 2024. It also marks the largest year-over-year increase since the question was first asked in 2004, when 51% felt taxes were too high. A majority of voters have consistently said their tax burden is too much.

 FOX NEWS POLL: SOUR VOTERS SAY WASHINGTON IS OUT OF TOUCH

Compared to last year, groups showing the highest increase in concern over how much they are paying include voters with graduate degrees (+24 points since 2025), very liberal voters (+20), Democratic men (+19), moderates (+19), rural voters (+17), White voters without a college degree (+16), and women ages 45+ (+16).

What bothers people most about federal income taxes is the wealthy are not paying enough (38%), although that figure has dipped slightly from last year’s record high of 45%. Close behind is concern about how the government spends their tax dollars, up 3 points from a year ago to 29%.

Other irritations are the amount of taxes paid (14%), feeling too many people don’t pay enough (10%), and the complexity of the system (9%).

Democrats (57%) and independents (40%) are the most concerned about the rich not paying enough, while Republicans’ biggest issue is the amount the government uses (39%).

“The data show why Democrats persistently frame budget, spending, and tax policy questions as a matter of the rich paying their fair share,” says Republican Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “It’s one of the only ways the party is competitive on these issues given public skepticism about government performance.”

Disapproval of how President Trump is handling taxes has reached a record high of 64%, up 11 points from a year ago.

Dissatisfaction is up across the board, including among Democrats (+9 points disapproving since April 2025), independents (+14) and Republicans (+9).

One more thing…

AI use is on the rise, but not for tax prep.

Nearly 9 in 10 voters (87%) say they are not using AI to help with their taxes this year, while roughly 1 in 10 (13%) say they will or already have. Those most likely to say they will use AI are Republicans under age 45 (29%), voters under 30 (23%), Hispanic voters (21%), Black voters (20%), and employed voters (19%).

Conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.

China’s cyberspace regulator issued draft regulations on Friday to oversee the development online of digital humans, requiring clear labeling and banning services ​that could mislead children or fuel addiction.

The Cyberspace Administration of ‌China’s proposed rules would require prominent “digital human” labels on all virtual human content and prohibit digital humans from providing “virtual intimate relationships” to those under 18, according to rules published ​for public comment until May 6.

The draft regulations would also ban the ​use of other people’s personal information to create digital humans without ⁠consent, or using virtual humans to bypass identity verification systems, reflecting Beijing’s efforts ​to maintain control in the face of advances in artificial intelligence.

Digital humans are ​also prohibited from disseminating content that endangers national security, inciting subversion of state power, promoting secession or undermining national unity, the draft rules said.

Service providers are advised to prevent ​and resist content that is sexually suggestive, depicts horror, cruelty or incites discrimination ​based on ethnicity or region, according to the document. Providers are also encouraged to take ‌necessary ⁠measures to intervene and provide professional assistance when users exhibit suicidal or self-harming tendencies.

China made clear its ambitions to aggressively adopt AI throughout its economy in the new five-year policy blueprint issued last month. The push comes alongside tightening ​governance in the booming ​industry to ensure ⁠safety and alignment with the country’s socialist values.

The new rules aim to fill a gap in governance in the digital ​human sector, setting clear red lines for the healthy ​development of ⁠the industry, according to an analysis published on the cyberspace regulator’s website.

“The governance of digital virtual humans is no longer merely an issue of industry norms; ⁠rather, ​it has become a strategic scientific problem that ​concerns the security of the cyberspace, public interests, and the high-quality development of the digital ​economy,” it added.

Concerns over AI chatbot relationships

Why boys say they are spending more time online

As artificial intelligence expands into classrooms, workplaces, and homes, a new coalition warns that risks to children and workers are growing faster than efforts to control the new technology.

The newly formed Alliance for a Better Future (ABF) is pushing for AI safeguards as Washington debates regulation.

“We know that we’ve got to decide, is this great new technology going to be something that propels kids into the future or something that causes harm to them?” ABF CEO Janet Kelly told Fox News Digital. 

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT SLAMS BIG TECH FOR SEXTORTION, THREATS TO CHILDREN WHILE CALLING FOR KEY INTERNET REFORM

The Alliance for a Better Future (ABF) aims to promote AI safeguards as the technology expands into classrooms and offices. (Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

“We are on the side of families who want to make sure that it is done well and that it is good for kids, and we believe that that is possible,” Kelly added.

The group is launching as AI spreads quickly into everyday life with little oversight, even as Washington scrambles to catch up. Supporters warn the decisions being made now will shape whether the technology protects families or puts them at risk.

ABF debuted with a striking video featuring congressional testimony from parents whose children were harmed, some driven toward suicide, after interacting with AI chatbots. 

NEW PRO-AI GROUP BACKED BY TRUMP ALLIES PLANS $100M MIDTERM SPENDING PUSH

Positioning itself as both pro-innovation and pro-family, ABF argues AI can deliver enormous benefits but only if developed responsibly. 

“We believe that it’s possible to make great AI with American values, not just Silicon Valley values,” said Kelly, a mother of three.

She added that policymakers must focus on the interests of children, workers and creators, not just the companies building the technology. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

A child learns how to find a letter on a keyboard on a computer in Boston on April 8, 2021. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

ABF plans to engage aggressively at both the federal and state levels, equipped with targeted ads and public education campaigns. The group expects to spend at least eight figures this year to elevate the voices of concerned parents and workers.

The organization builds on earlier battles over online child safety, bringing multiple groups under one umbrella. 

Its policy council is chaired by Dr. Brad Littlejohn of American Compass and includes representatives from the Family Policy Alliance, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Institute for Family Studies, Heritage Foundation, and American Principles Project.

Newswise — Oak Brook, IL – Volume 37 of SLAS Technology includes one technical brief, four original research articles, two literature highlights, and four entries from the Special Issue on Revolutionizing Transcriptomics from Single-Cell Insights to RNA-Based Interventions.

Technical Brief

Original Research

Literature Highlight

• Life Sciences Discovery and Technology Highlights
  The authors highlight several recent advances in laboratory automation, microfluidics and AI-enhanced biosensing, that are transforming biological research through high-throughput genome editing platforms, automated nucleic acid extraction protocols and intelligent strain engineering systems.
• Life Sciences and Anxiety – Between Enlightenment and Uncertainty
  This entry in the Life Sciences and Society series by SLAS Technology Associate Editor Kerstin Thurow, PhD, explores the paradoxical relationship between scientific advancement and cultural anxiety in the life sciences. Thurow examines how greater biological knowledge can simultaneously empower and burden individuals while raising ethical questions about genetic modification and human enhancement.

Special Issue

• Revolutionizing Transcriptomics from Single-Cell Insights to RNA-Based Interventions
  This Special Issue on systems genetics examines gene and molecular interaction networks, utilizing high-throughput sequencing and multi-omics technologies to understand how genetic networks influence phenotypes. It emphasizes the significance of personalized medicine, therapeutic target discovery and biomarker identification through integrated genomic and epigenomic approaches.

All active SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology call for papers are available at: https://www.slas.org/publications/call-for-papers/

This volume of SLAS Technology is available at https://www.slas-technology.org/issue/S2472-6303(25)X0008-X

*****

SLAS Technology reveals how scientists adapt technological advancements for life sciences exploration and experimentation in biomedical research and development. The journal emphasizes scientific and technical advances that enable and improve:

• Life sciences research and development
• Drug delivery
• Diagnostics
• Biomedical and molecular imaging
• Personalized and precision medicine

SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and the developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.

SLAS Technology: Translating Life Sciences Innovation, 2024 Impact Factor 3.7. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, PhD, KYAN Technologies, Los Angeles, CA (USA).

###

FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance is ramping up the administration’s targeting of fraud after President Donald Trump appointed him to head an anti-fraud task force last week, including the implementation of an AI platform to quickly identify and address fraud. 

Vance’s task force is currently working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, run by Dr. Mehmet Oz, and last month, CMS identified and suspended 70 hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles after they were flagged as high risk fraudulent providers. The 70 hospice and home health providers had their funding paused in just one week after being identified by the task force and CMS, Fox News Digital is told.

“As the task force to root out waste, fraud and abuse ramps up its work, we expect [the number of potentially fraudulent hospice and home health providers] to grow exponentially,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

Vance and Oz announced in February that $259.5 million in Medicaid funds would be withheld from Minnesota as a result of fraud concerns that gripped the state shortly before Governor Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s former running mate, announced that he will not seek a third term.

TRUMP ADMIN UNCOVERS ‘STAGGERING’ $8.6 BILLION IN SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS FRAUD

Vice President JD Vance is escalating the administration’s anti-fraud efforts after being appointed by President Donald Trump to lead a new federal task force targeting waste and abuse. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

The task force is going beyond the targeting of Minnesota, and Trump suggested Democratic-led states would be a focus during the unveiling of the task force last week. 

“It seems that it’s usually in blue states,” the president said. “If it’s in a red state, we’re going there too, but it seems that it’s heavily, heavily Democrat.”

Vance’s task force plans to utilize the same template that CMS used to locate fraud in Minnesota, which involves an internal fraud detection artificial intelligence system that flags claims for review or blocks those identified as likely fraudulent.

Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was identified as the center of an alleged childcare fraud scandal in the state. (Madelin Fuerste/Fox News)

Prior to the Trump administration, Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS would have to manually dis-enroll organizations suspected of fraud, whereas the system being utilized by the task force and other agencies involved allows the identification of fraud in a more rapid and fluid manner.

NEWSOM’S FAILED LEADERSHIP HAS LET CALIFORNIA BECOME A LAND OF FRAUD AND SCAMS

The task force is actively hiring CMS technologists who will deploy the AI system across the country. 

“Vice President Vance looks forward to carrying out the President’s War on Fraud,” a Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “The American people deserve better than being ripped off by people who hate this country, and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud will ensure that essential taxpayer-funded services are used to support the hard-working Americans who rely on them, instead of being used by fraudsters and criminals.”

Authorities in Minnesota launched a separate investigation in 2022, under the Biden Department of Justice, into the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which prosecutors later described as a key player in what became one of the largest fraud schemes involving pandemic relief funds.

Working alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz’s CMS, the task force recently helped suspend 70 high-risk hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles, halting their funding within a week. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

DR OZ DETAILS ‘WEAPONIZATION OF FRAUD’ IN MINNESOTA, ESTIMATES TOTAL MEDICAID FRAUD TO BE $100 BILLION

Over time, investigators uncovered about $250 million in fraudulent claims, and 78 individuals were eventually charged. Prosecutors have also suggested that the total amount connected to the broader scheme could be in the billions. 

During an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, earlier this month, Vance responded to a question by Fox News Digital regarding fraud ahead of Trump’s executive order establishing the anti-fraud task force. 

Vance said that the administration has uncovered fraud amounting to “$19 billion at least” since the administration has been investigating the Twin Cities, and he alluded to California as being the next big target for identifying fraud.

The initiative is expanding beyond Minnesota — where hundreds of millions in Medicaid funds were withheld — while signaling a broader focus on fraud in Democratic-led states. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We know there’s a lot of fraud in California, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it looks like and what we’ve done in the Trump administration,” Vance said in response to a question by Fox News Digital.

“And the president has really empowered us to do this, is to take the first national look at the way the American people have been defrauded over many, many years,” Vance added.

When ChatGPT came on the scene in 2022, Silicon Valley-types immediately compared AI to the dawn of the internet in the 1990s.

OpenAI received the same fanfare when it unveiled Sora two years later. By typing a sentence or two into a box on a phone screen, a user could generate a short video that looked straight out of Hollywood.

Disney even signed a three-year $1 billion deal to allow Sora users to forge clips using characters like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella or Yoda.

Yet OpenAI abruptly announced yesterday that it is pulling the plug on its Sora consumer app and internet service. No reason was given.

‘To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing,’ OpenAI said in a post on X.

OpenAI confirmed to Metro that it would continue to use video-generation technologies to teach skills to robots.

‘As we focus and compute demand grows, the Sora research team continues to focus on world simulation research to advance robotics that will help people solve real-world, physical tasks,’ a spokesperson added.

Disney told Metro it ‘respects OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business’ and is keen to license its property to an AI company.

AI enthusiasts and critics alike were taken aback by the overnight end of Sora. Only the day before, OpenAI published a blog post about how to safely create content with its ‘state-of-the-art video generation’ app.

Some, however, weren’t exactly surprised. After all, Sora got into hot water last year when people created videos with copyrighted material.

But almost all began to wonder the same thing – is Sora’s end a sign that the AI bubble is about to burst, as the Bank of England feared last year?

Metro spoke with nearly a dozen financial analysts, AI experts and stock researchers about whether this will happen.

There were mixed feelings.

Is the AI bubble about to burst?

‘Every bubble starts with a story people want to believe,’ says Dat Ngo, of the trading guide, Vetted Prop Firms.

‘In the late 90s, it was the internet. Today, it’s artificial intelligence.

‘The parallels are hard to ignore: skyrocketing stock prices, endless hype and companies investing billions before fully proving their business models.’

In 2000, dot-com whizzes were minting easy millions from internet start-ups. When interest rates were hiked, investors sold off their holdings, companies went bust and people lost their jobs.

Some stock researchers worry that the AI boom could lose steam when the companies spending billions on the tech see profits dip.

Tech giants are spending serious money on the data centres that power AI this year: Amazon is spending $200 billion; Google, $185 billion; Microsoft, $114 billion and Meta, $135 billion. (As a video-generation service, Sora required dar more computing power than most consumer AI products.)

Yet Dr Alessia Paccagnini, an associate professor from the University College Dublin’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, says that shoppers are spending $12 billion. That’s a big difference.

AI-focused stocks are mainly in US markets but as so many investors across the world have bought into it, a fallout would be felt globally.

Dr Paccagnini adds: ‘As a worst-case scenario, if the bubble does burst, the immediate consequences would be severe – a sharp market correction could wipe trillions from stock valuations, hitting retirement accounts and pension funds hard.’

‘In my opinion, we should be worried, but being prepared could help us avoid the worst outcomes.’

‘AI hype is overly optimistic’

Despite scepticism, AI feels like it’s everywhere these days, from dog bowls and fridges to toothbrushes and bird feeders.

And it might continue that way for a while, even if not as enthusiastically as before, says Professor Filip Bialy, who specialises in computer science and AI ethics at the Open Institute of Technology.

‘AI hype – an overly optimistic view of the technological and economic potential of the current paradigm of AI – contributes to the growth of the bubble,’ he says.

‘However, the hype may end not with the burst of the bubble but rather with a more mature understanding of the technology.’

Leeron Hoory, a finance journalist at BusinessHeroes, adds that calls for caution are, much like AI technology itself, premature.

She says that the tech industry has a history of spending big to deliver change, as it did with the computer revolution – and that took five years before any sort of reckoning came.

‘But AI isn’t a passing trend like the dot-com rush,’ Hoory says, ‘it’s an infrastructural shift that will underpin everything from logistics to medicine to governance.

‘The market isn’t overheated – it’s still catching up to the scale of what’s coming.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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