BULLARD – Drivers in Bullard should prepare for detours next week as TxDOT shuts down several streets to continue its widening project along Main Street.
The closure will stretch from Main Street down to South Houston Street, and officials are urging drivers to avoid the area while work is underway. To get around the construction zone, motorists are encouraged to use North Phillips Street and West Emma Street as alternate routes.
The project is expected to last through next Friday.
(PHILADELPHIA) -- The Trump administration can replace the slavery exhibit at the President's House in Philadelphia, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel tosses out a February district court injunction that ordered the National Parks Service (NPS) to restore the panels that were removed from the site.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court does not have the jurisdiction over the claims that were brought against the Interior Department and the National Park Service by the city of Philadelphia.
NPS took down the outdoor memorial, which honors the lives of the nine enslaved Africans who were held at the site by President George Washington, in January. The exhibit was partially restored in February after a district court ruling, but not all materials were returned to the site. ABC News reached out to the city of Philadelphia and the Interior Department for comment.
In April, NPS published proposed changes to the panels.
"These new panels are full of historical context. They highlight the momentous events that took place in the President's House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park," the appeals court ruling said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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NEW YORK (AP) — New York is celebrating the Knicks in classic style Thursday, throwing a ticker-tape parade for the team that brought home the NBA championship longed for by generations of fans, who filled the streets to witness the spectacle.
The Knicks’ victory — after a 53-year drought — has electrified New Yorkers. Confetti in the Knicks’ blue and orange colors swirled through the air as the parade rolled up the skyscraper-flanked “Canyon of Heroes” in Manhattan. Police said all the viewing areas filled up more than three hours before the procession began at 10:30 a.m.
“In the words of Jalen, I have no words,” said Sandra Brunson, the mother of NBA Finals MVP and Knicks captain Jalen Brunson. “It was all worth it.”
Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar in his mouth on top of a parade bus, alongside a dancing Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a huge Knicks fan. On a nearby float with other alumni, Carmelo Anthony had a victory cigar of his own.
“New Yorkers are, as they say, ‘lit’ right now,” Anthony said. “The whole city won.”
On one float with Brunson, film director Spike Lee, perhaps the team’s most iconic fan, was also soaking it in.
“I’ve never been to a parade — ever — and I’m glad it’s this one,” Lee said.
Fans were wedged around the famed “Charging Bull” statue, holding their phones out as far as their arms could reach as the floats passed by.
OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket in Game 4 on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.
The parade will end at City Hall, where players are expected to get keys to the city.
Knicks fans turn out in force
People streamed into the area on crammed subways, looking to get as close as they could or find any elevated spot to catch a glimpse.
Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder — sometimes on each other’s shoulders — or climbed traffic lights, sanitation trucks or Knicks-colored buckets they’d brought from home. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.
“I had to be here today,” said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of one of the legends from that era, Patrick Ewing.
‘The New York vibe’
Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they’d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with the fact that they would only experience the parade from a distance.
“We’re fine with the fray, we just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,” said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.
Madison, beaming, held a handwritten sign announcing she’d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be there.
Stars and Knicks legends
Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — was riding along in style in a convertible, wearing his NBA title rings. Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony. Ben Stiller captured photos and videos from a parade vehicle.
Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York-loving 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” has been tapped to perform.
“How could I not?” Keys said Wednesday in a social media video that featured her on the phone with Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
A parade decades in the making
The mere fact that the parade is happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn’t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons, and he instead honored the Knicks at a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed 1973 ceremony outside City Hall.
This time, the city is going all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, “This is really happening.”
And a massive security operation
Police plan to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks’ run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
At one point before the parade, a small group of people were crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier to keep fans penned in.
Some 650 sanitation workers have been assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.
Why does New York throw ticker-tape parades?
Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers took to tossing the paper out their office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling aerial spectacle to the festivities.
Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades to honor visiting foreign leaders, mark historic anniversaries and hail feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.
The Knicks’ parade will be the 210th, and it comes after a ticker-tape bash for the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2024.
Outer Banks is starting up on its final adventure.
Netflix has shared the official teaser trailer for the drama series' fifth and final season. It has also announced that the season will make its debut on Aug. 20.
Returning to the show are series regulars Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Drew Starkey, Carlacia Grant, Austin North and Fiona Palomo. J. Anthony Crane and Cullen Moss have also been upped to series regulars for the final season.
This new season finds the Pogues "at their absolute breaking point following the tragic loss of JJ in Morocco. Stranded far from home and mourning the heart of their crew, they’ve lost the Blue Crown and continue to face a gauntlet of familiar threats," according to its official description. "With Chandler Groff still at large, Dalia and the Corsairs closing in, and the Kooks ensuring the Pogues have no home to return to, John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo must rely on their scrappy instincts—and an uneasy alliance with Rafe—to keep from falling apart for good."
This new mission is now a race to "reclaim their future and finally win the freedom they’ve been chasing since the beginning," the description continues. "It’s the Pogues against the world as they seek to avenge their best friend and bring it on home…one final time."
The teaser trailer finds the crew reeling after the death of their friend JJ.
"I saw what he did to JJ. And he knows I'm not letting it go," Bailey's Kiara says, before Cline's Sarah Cameron says, "If you're on the bottom, you have to risk everything."
Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke are the creators of Outer Banks. Season 5 consists of 10 hourlong episodes.
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HOUSTON (AP) — Jeremy Peña homered and had an RBI single, Peter Lambert allowed just one run on two hits and the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Wednesday.
Yordan Alvarez extended his on-base streak to 24 games and scored Christian Vazquez on a double for his 55th RBI of the season.
Lambert (6-4) retired nine of his first 10 batters. He gave up a leadoff single to Dillon Dingler in the fourth, and went on to retire 11 straight before Kerry Carpenter’s solo homer in the seventh. He finished seven innings with five strikeouts and walked none.
Peña homered in the third inning off Casey Mize (2-4). Alvarez hit his double in the fifth to make it 2-0.
Mize was making his first start since coming off the injured list after dealing with right adductor inflammation. He retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before Peña lined his fourth home run of the season.
Mize gave up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
The Astros extended their lead with an Isaac Paredes RBI double and Peña’s bases-loaded single in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle hit his sixth homer of the year in the ninth, lifting a first-pitch fastball from Josh Hader into the left-field seats.
Hader went on to strike out the side and secure his fourth save of the season.
Up next
Houston: Opens a three-game series with Cleveland at home on Friday. RHP Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 6.43 ERA) is slated to pitch the series opener.
Detroit: Opens a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at home on Friday. LHP Tarik Skubal (3-3, 2.81 ERA) will counter White Sox RHP Erick Fedde (2-5, 4.50 ERA).
HENDERSON COUNTY – Local leaders in Henderson County held a workshop on Tuesday to discuss a proposed data center near Key Ranch Estates on Cedar Creek Lake. During the meeting, community members voiced significant concerns regarding the project’s potential impact on the lake, particularly the risk of water depletion.
According to our news partner KETK, the proposed data center’s water requirements sparked worries among residents, who fear that water levels at Cedar Creek Lake, considered the heart of their community, could be depleted. The workshop aimed to inform the community and allow residents to understand the potential impact on their area. Continue reading Residents have data center water worries
(CLARK COUNTY, Wash.) -- Heart-stopping video has been released showing the moment a deputy in Clark County, Washington, saved a 2-year-old boy who was left alone in a hot car on a 92-degree day.
Witnesses called 911 in May to report the child in a parked car, and the witnesses tried to create shade around the car as they waited for responders, the Clark County Sheriff's Department said on Wednesday.
Deputy Ben Hulsey arrived at the scene to find the 2-year-old strapped in his car seat, "sweating heavily, with his head tilted to the side and not responding," the sheriff's department said. The car had a small crack in the back window, authorities said.
Hulsey broke a window to rescue the little boy, who was checked by medics, authorities said.
Investigators determined the boy was left alone for about 16 minutes, the sheriff's department said. When deputies found his parents, they had been inside a nearby grocery store for almost 30 minutes, authorities said.
The parents are facing reckless endangerment charges, the department said.
"Never leave a child or pet alone in a vehicle. Not even for a few minutes," the sheriff's department said in a statement Wednesday. "If you see a child or pet left alone in a vehicle and believe they're in distress, don't hesitate to call 911. That's exactly what these community members did."
At least seven children have died in hot cars so far this year in the U.S., according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org. Last year, at least 37 children died in hot cars across the country, KidsAndCars.org said.
Click here for what to know to keep your children safe.
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Smith County – Smith County and surrounding areas have seen an uptick in scam calls — specifically, calls that instill fear by making it seem a family member is in danger and you need to pay to save them.
Smith County Precinct 4 Constable Josh Joplin and a local woman, who had experienced one of these scam calls, say they can seem so real, even using the sound of someone in distress to sell their story. The calls from unknown people range from kidnapping a loved one to crying out that a daughter’s been in a crash. These scammers are capitalizing on the fear.
Tammy Humes says she received a phone call from a regular, wireless number with a local area code, urgently stressing that her daughter had been in a car crash, and money was needed to tow her car. In the background, she could hear a woman yelling, “Mom!”
“A parent’s gonna freak out hearing that their child’s in an accident,” Humes said.
Humes said she recognized the caller was not able to provide a location of the call or identify the daughter, instead only saying he needed her credit card information. Continue reading Scam calls on the rise
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street Thursday, taking back most of their losses from a day earlier, and are on track to notch weekly gains.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 302 points, or 0.6%, as of 10:49 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4%. Every major index is on track for weekly gains. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.
The gains are helping to cut losses from a day earlier that were driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation. Bond yields are pulling back. That, along with falling oil prices, is relieving much of the pressure on stocks.
The gains were broad and being led by technology stocks. Intel surged 7% after President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 2.2% and Micron Technology surged 7.7%.
On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its ballyhooed debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 6.5% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.
Crude oil prices continued to fall after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3% to $77.20 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 3.4% to $73.46 per barrel.
Easing oil prices are relieving pressure on companies that rely heavily on fuel. Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 4% and United Airlines rose 4%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.4%.
Energy companies, though, lost ground on falling oil prices. Exxon Mobil fell 2.7% and Chevron fell 2.1%.
Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.
Higher oil prices had been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.
Rising energy costs have also been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher from a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.
Hotter inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to shift course from cutting its benchmark interest rate to likely raising rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates can boost the economy by making borrowing easier for businesses and households, but it also tends to stoke inflation.
The Fed has been trying to balance its job of curbing inflation while supporting employment growth. The jobs market has remained relatively strong amid rising inflation, with low unemployment and solid job growth.
The central bank closed its two-day meeting on Wednesday by maintaining its benchmark interest rate at its current level. But it signaled that it will likely raise the rate at least once by December.
That prompted a jump in bond yields on Wednesday, but they eased on Thursday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.49% late Wednesday. The yield on 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks action by the Fed, fell to 4.15% from 4.20% late Wednesday.
Markets were mixed in Europe and Asia.
Tyra Banks is hitting a new kind of catwalk.
Freeform revealed that the supermodel and entrepreneur will join Heidi Klum, Law Roach and Nina Garcia on Project Runway as a recurring judge.
Christian Siriano will also return for season 22 as a mentor.
The new season will be bigger than ever with 22 designers from different backgrounds slated to compete.
A press release for the upcoming season says that it is the most designers in Project Runway history to compete for a chance to take their careers to the next level.
The new season of the hit reality competition show will also see the Dancing with the Stars cast hitting the runway, with appearances from Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Britt Stewart and Julianne Hough.
Stars from the Get Real universe, including former Bachelorette star Charity Lawson, Sarah Jane Nader from Love Thy Nader and Ekin-Su from Vanderpump Villa, will appear as models in an episode this season.
Also joining this season as guest judges are Ciara, Fausto Puglisi, Ice Spice, Iman, Kiernan Shipka, Niecy Nash, Nina Dobrev, Sergio Hudson, Willy Chavarria and Winnie Harlow.
Project Runway season 22 will arrive on Freeform on July 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be available to stream shortly after on Hulu and Disney+, followed by weekly airings.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided Thursday with a Texas marijuana user who wants to legally own a gun, the latest in a line of firearm cases from a court that has expanded gun rights.
In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the Second Amendment. Hemani wasn’t charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion, saying the ruling limits but doesn’t end the government’s power to take guns from drug users.
The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions. The measure was also used in a case against Hunter Biden, who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware, of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Someone addicted to a drug could still be prosecuted after Thursday’s decision, Gorsuch wrote. “We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm,” he wrote. Prosecutors could potentially still charge a marijuana user, if they had evidence the person was dangerous.
It’s the latest in a series of firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since a landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country.
Since then, the high court has upheld a law aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and strict regulations on ghost gun kits but has struck down a ban on bump stocks, an accessory that enables rapid fire. The justices are also considering a second firearm case this term over strict regulations on carrying guns in Hawaii.
The Texas case comes after significant shifts in the legality and use of cannabis. More than half of U.S. states have now legalized it broadly, and it’s gained widespread use for health purposes.
“Whatever one thinks of these developments, the federal government has not just tolerated them; it helped fuel them,” Gorsuch wrote. “All of which leaves it awkwardly positioned to suggest that the millions of Americans who now regularly use marijuana are categorically and unusually dangerous.”
Recreational use remains illegal on a federal level even after the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in April.
It’s rare to see standalone criminal charges filed against people accused solely of owning guns and using drugs. The charge is more often filed against people also accused of other crimes.
The case made for some unusual political alliances. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association both supported Hemani’s case, as did cannabis legalization groups like NORML. On the other side were gun safety groups like Everytown that usually oppose the Trump administration on Second Amendment issues.
(WASHINGTON) -- In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a longstanding federal ban on guns for unlawful users of any controlled substance is unconstitutional as applied to a Texas gun owner who used marijuana several times a week.
The decision set new limits on federal prosecution of gun owners who are targeted simply for having a history of drug use. It was especially welcomed by millions of American cannabis users who have had to disarm or risk up to 15 years behind bars.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court's opinion that unlawful drug use alone cannot be grounds to seek to send someone to prison and potentially force them to give up firearms for life.
"We do not question that sometimes an individual's unlawful use of marijuana (or any other controlled substance) may render him a danger to others," Gorsuch wrote. "But, again, the government disclaims the need to show anything like that in this case. ... affording the government that kind of broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun would risk allowing it to quickly swallow the Second Amendment."
The Justice Department has said it prosecutes roughly 300 cases a year in which a violation of the drug-user gun ban is a leading charge.
Gorsuch said the opinion was narrow and did not disturb other provisions of the law, which includes a ban on guns for drug addicts, ban on guns for people presently intoxicated and prohibition of firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or others.
The ruling would not, for example, have prevented the prosecution of Hunter Biden under the law since he was a known and admitted drug addict while in possession of a firearm.
The decision was most immediately a victory for plaintiff Ali Hemani, a Texas man who admitted to using marijuana "every other day" while keeping a Glock 9mm pistol in his home. He was prosecuted by federal authorities for a single charge of unlawful possession as a drug user but was neither intoxicated nor physically holding the weapon when arrested.
A federal appeals court tossed out the Hemani indictment saying the ban as applied to him was unconstitutional. The justices agreed with that decision.
While more than 40 states have legalized marijuana in some form, it remains prohibited under federal law.
"Today's unanimous 9-0 decision makes it clear that the government cannot make it crime for people to own a gun, which the Supreme Court has held is a fundamental constitutional right, simply because they use marijuana," said Cecillia Wang, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union.
"With nearly half of Americans reporting marijuana use at some point in their lives, this ruling protects the rights of millions and curbs the government's ability to impose arbitrary and discriminatory penalties," Wang wrote in a statement. "The court has sent a strong message that the government cannot criminalize the conduct of large numbers of people by making categorical and unfounded assumptions about whether they are dangerous."
The decision was also praised by the National Rifle Association as "a major victory for the Second Amendment and peaceable gun owners across America."
"No one should be deprived of their God-given right to keep and bear arms for engaging in nonviolent conduct, and there is no historical justification for doing so," said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford in a statement to ABC News.
Gun safety advocates, which had joined the Trump administration in opposing a rollback of the drug-user gun ban, said the bulk of the law remains a robust and "common-sense" public-safety measure.
"Although the Court said that the particular law at issue in this case cannot be upheld specifically as to the person challenging it, it reaffirmed the ability of legislatures to restrict firearms access by certain categories of people," said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun safety group.
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Guillermo Rodriguez is stepping out from behind Jimmy Kimmel's desk and onto the dance floor.
The longtime Jimmy Kimmel Live! personality has officially joined season 35 of Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity contestant.
The announcement was made Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, making Rodriguez the latest star revealed for the upcoming season.
Rodriguez has become a familiar face to television audiences through his work alongside Jimmy Kimmel.
His journey to late-night stardom began when he worked as a security guard at the show's Hollywood studio before being featured in comedy sketches and recurring segments that quickly made him a fan favorite.
Over the years, Rodriguez has become one of the show's most recognizable personalities, appearing in countless comedy bits, celebrity interviews and his signature segment, "Guillermo's Hollywood Roundup."
He has also made appearances in films and television projects, including a cameo in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Now, Rodriguez will take on a new challenge as he competes for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.
He joins a growing season 35 cast that includes reality TV stars Ciara Miller and Maura Higgins, as well as Savannah Bananas player and social media personality Jackson Olson.
Dancing with the Stars is coming off a successful season 34, which ABC said delivered the show's strongest finale audience in a decade.
The competition series is set to return this fall on ABC and Disney+, with episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu.
The full celebrity cast, professional dancer pairings and premiere date are expected to be announced Sept. 2 on Good Morning America.
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(NEW YORK) -- Fewer than 49% of Americans can afford healthcare, the lowest rate since tracking began in 2021, according to Gallup data released Thursday.
In a single year, roughly 2.8 million people no longer identified as being “Cost Secure” meaning they could no longer afford access to quality care or pay for visits and prescriptions, according to the data. Worry about future healthcare costs, including visits and prescriptions, amongst Americans is also at an all-time high of over 40%, according to Gallup.
Gallup developed what it calls the "Healthcare Affordability Index," which is sponsored by West Health, in 2021 drawing on self?reported experiences from nationally representative surveys. The latest data comes from a study conducted between October and December of 2025, according to Gallup and West Health.
Healthcare has become a financial burden across income levels, according to the new data. According to the index, one in three upper-middle income households ($120,00 to $180,000) are not cost secure, nor are one in five households earning above $180,000.
Young adults, aged 18-29, have experienced the sharpest decline in ability to afford healthcare with those identifying as "cost secure" dropping 7 percentage points in a year.
Women continue to trail behind men when it comes to affording healthcare.
Between 2021 and 2024 the difference between men and women being able to afford care was 9% but in 2025 the gap widened to 15%, making it the largest gender gap in healthcare affordability on record.
Healthcare and inflation continue to rise with healthcare spending reaching $5.3 trillion in 2024. This, in part, is due to hospital prices increasing to 3.4% in 2024, the fastest rate increase since 2007, and insurance premiums going up by 20% after the expiration of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
With many Americans experiencing significant healthcare-related financial challenges, studies show that this can lead to significant consequences, including delaying or deferring care, leading to worse health overall.
Torie A. Livingston, MD, MPH, is a third-year pediatric resident physician at the University of Chicago and is a medical intern of the ABC News Medical Unit.
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(NEW YORK) -- Recently released polling on Americans' opinions of artificial intelligence gives us an updated look at how people are interacting with AI, what they are using it for and whether they are skeptical of the technology.
About half of American adults (49%) said that they have used chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot before, up from 33% in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday.
The study found 42% of adults who used chatbots used them to search for information, 38% used it for work tasks, 25% for fun or entertainment, 24% for creating or editing images or videos, 20% for medical advice and another 20% for diet and fitness information.
About a quarter of Americans -- 24%-- said they used chatbots daily, according to Pew.
The Pew study found that, overall, while Americans under 50 years old were more likely than those 50 and older to use chatbots, use has risen over time among adults of all ages. And while men and women both use chatbots at roughly the same rate overall, more men use chatbots on a daily basis than women.
The share of Americans using AI bots for advice and information on health has also increased. A KFF study released Wednesday found that 29% of Americans said they used AI tools or chatbots at least monthly for information and advice on health, up from 17% in 2024.
Most of these users, 56%, are confident they can determine what is true and what is false when accessing health information on chatbots. Younger adults were more confident than older adults.
Still, Americans are skeptical of AI chatbots.
Pew found that more Americans (40%) said that AI will have a negative impact on society over the next 20 years while only 16% said it will have a positive impact. Americans are also more negative on AI's impact on themselves: 31% said it will have a negative impact over the next 20 years rather than a positive one (23%).
Younger adults are more wary about the impacts that AI will have on society and themselves than older adults, according to Pew. Nearly half of adults under 30 (48%) believe that AI will have a negative impact on society, compared to 39% of those 30 to 49 and 37% of those 50 and older. While 37% of adults under 30 said the impact on themselves will be negative, that falls to 30% among those 30 to 49 and 28% of those older than that.
Americans largely think AI is moving too fast: A 63% majority of adults said that AI is advancing too quickly, according to Pew, while 19% said it was moving at the right pace and just 2% said it was moving too slowly.
Americans are also concerned about personal information and AI. Pew found about 7 in 10 adults (71%) said that the use of AI will make personal information less secure.
While Americans don't trust big tech or AI companies to do what's best, they also don't trust the government to keep them in check.
A CNN poll, also released Wednesday, found 69% of Americans saying they trust companies developing AI tools "a little" or "not at all" to do what is best for their users.
Pew found a similar share of Americans voicing skepticism that the U.S. government will regulate AI effectively (67%).
Democrats have become less confident in the government regulating AI. In a 2024 Pew Research Center poll, 54% said they had not much or no confidence in the government regulating AI effectively, rising to 74% in the new Pew poll. Republicans' lack of confidence has declined over the same period from 70% to 61%. This divergence in the views of Democrats and Republicans over time may be because there was a Democratic president in 2024 and a Republican president now.
The Pew Research Center poll was conducted Feb. 17-23 among 5,119 U.S. adults with an error margin of +/- 1.6 percentage points, including 2,605 AI chatbot users with an error margin of +/- 2.2 percentage points.
The KFF poll and the CNN poll were both conducted May 7-31 among 2,480 U.S. adults and have an error margin of +/- 2.7 percentage points.
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