A new study reveals ChatGPT and other AI tools are surging in popularity among six-figure earners, sparking debate about who benefits most from the technology.
A recent analysis from business intelligence firm Morning Consult, covered by Gizmodo, has uncovered a striking divide in how Americans view artificial intelligence. Among workers earning over $100,000 annually, AI companies like OpenAI and Google's Gemini are among the fastest-growing brands, with ChatGPT emerging as the clear favorite.
Meanwhile, those earning less than $50,000 show little enthusiasm for these tools, gravitating instead toward discount retailers and food delivery services. The contrast raises uncomfortable questions about who stands to gain from the AI revolution and who might lose.
The numbers tell a compelling story. ChatGPT boasts nearly 10 percentage points higher consideration share than its closest competitor among high-income consumers, and brand awareness for Gemini jumped from 62 percent in early 2025 to 78 percent by the third quarter.
The pattern makes intuitive sense: AI is largely designed to automate routine clerical tasks and enhance productivity for managers and professionals, making it a natural fit for those already in positions of influence. For this reason, tech workers have seen a boom of AI tools this year.
Observers online have seized on the findings as evidence of a deeper inequality problem. Commenters have pointed out the irony of wealthy tech executives using AI to eliminate lower-wage jobs while simultaneously enriching themselves.
The community has raised pointed questions about billionaires and corporate leaders who lay off workers to cut costs, then deploy AI to further concentrate wealth at the top. One representative sentiment captured the frustration: if someone cannot enjoy life with a billion dollars, perhaps greed rather than necessity is driving these decisions. And this sentiment is reflected by backlash against Microsoft's new agenic OS.
Experts here at Hackr.io note that this income-based divide reflects a broader reality about technological adoption. Wealthier workers have both the resources to experiment with new tools and the job security to view AI as an enhancement rather than a threat. For lower-income workers, the calculus is different.
When your paycheck depends on tasks that AI can perform, enthusiasm understandably gives way to anxiety. The study inadvertently illustrates how innovation can widen existing gaps rather than bridge them.
The Morning Consult findings serve as a snapshot of a pivotal moment. As AI becomes increasingly central to how work gets done, the question of who benefits and who bears the cost will likely shape public policy, corporate strategy, and social tension for years to come. For now, the data suggests that enthusiasm for AI correlates closely with the ability to profit from it.
