Younger Americans are showing notable openness to Democratic Socialism while expressing deep dissatisfaction with the U.S. economy and limited trust in leading AI executives, according to a new CNBC poll conducted with Generation Lab. The survey of 1,088 Americans ages 18 to 34 found 46% held a favorable or very favorable view of Democratic Socialism, while 23% were somewhat or very unfavorable. The poll, conducted earlier this month with a 2.97 percentage point margin of error, comes as democratic socialist candidates have gained visibility in primaries across states including New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Colorado, alongside a mayoral primary win in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. Economic pessimism was widespread: 45% rated the national economy as bad, 27% as really bad, and 6% said it could not be worse, while only 2% said it could not be better and 3% called it great. Half said they expect the economy to get worse, compared with 22% who think it will get better. Housing and secure, decent-paying jobs were the biggest financial pressures, and many respondents said financial strain had led them to delay vacations, car purchases and home buying, with 28% saying they had skipped healthcare for financial reasons. On AI, respondents leaned toward stronger oversight, with 40% saying the federal government should set rules and 36% favoring an independent expert body. Trust in major AI leaders was weak across the board, with Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella receiving the highest trust reading at 35% and Palantir's CEO Alex Karp the lowest at 19%. The poll also pointed to rising use of prediction markets (event-based trading platforms), with one third saying they had used platforms such as Kalshi or Polymarket once or twice in the last month. CNBC said it has a commercial relationship with Kalshi that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.