Paul Tudor Jones issues warnings about AI, tariffs
Billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones said Tuesday that the U.S. trade war with China was past the point of no return.
Why it matters: Jones' comments come as economists have also suggested that the impact of Trump's tariffs are likely to outlast him.
Driving the news: Jones, the founder of Tudor Investment, predicted that stocks are going to hit new lows even if Trump backtracks from his aggressive tariffs, currently set at 145% on imported Chinese products.
"It's pretty clear. You have Trump who's locked in on tariffs. You have the Fed who's locked in on not cutting rates. That's not good for the stock market," Jones said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "We'll probably go down to new lows, even when Trump dials back China to 50%."
State of play: Recent history suggests that at least some levies could stick after Trump's time in office ends.
"We have never had any trade deescalation with China from Trump's first-term trade war. Politicians don't see a public appetite for it," Joseph Politano, an economist at Apricitas Economics, told Axios this week.
"I worry future presidential hopefuls see tariffs as a big expansion of executive power — the ability to economically reward and punish businesses at will — and will be loathe to give it up."
Jones also shared a dire warning about artificial intelligence, expressing drastic, longer term fears about how rapidly AI technology is developing.
Jones, sharing his takeaways from an exclusive technology conference he recently attended, said that although AI can be a "force for good" in health and education, experts at the conference suggested that "AI clearly poses an imminent security threat in our lifetimes to humanity."
He cited a breakout session following a panel of AI model developers, in which all four, he said, argued in favor of an offered proposition that "there's a 10% chance in the next 20 years that AI will destroy 50% of humanity." Jones was vague on exact details of their argument, but referenced "biohacking" and "weapons."
Jones did not immediately respond to Axios' request for followup comment.
The other side: Biosecurity experts say AI-driven "biosurveillance" could actually help spot the next pandemic or biological attack.
Collecting better biological data, and running it through AI, "might be the difference between managing a really small outbreak" and "letting it spread and become a much bigger problem," Stephanie Batalis, a Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology fellow, told Axios last year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
20 minutes ago
- Associated Press
ABC's Terry Moran is suspended following his social media post calling Trump and Miller haters
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News has suspended correspondent Terry Moran for calling Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a 'world class hater' in a since-deleted social media post. Moran's post was swiftly condemned by officials in the Republican administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance. ABC News, in a statement, said it 'stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.' The New York-based network said Moran was suspended pending further evaluation. Moran, who interviewed President Donald Trump a few weeks ago, said in his post on X at 12:06 a.m. on Sunday that the president was a world-class hater, too. But he wrote that for the president, his hatred is a means to an end, 'and that end is his own glorification.' For Miller, Moran's post said, 'his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.' Vance, on X, said that Moran's post was 'dripping with hatred.' The vice president wrote: 'Remember that every time you watch ABC's coverage of the Trump administration.' Miller, on X, said Moran's 'full public meltdown' exposed the corporate press. 'For decades, the privileged anchor and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose. Terry pulled off his mask.'
Business Insider
24 minutes ago
- Business Insider
US-China trade, inflation, Apple's big event: Here's what the stock market is watching this week
Investors will be monitoring a host of potentially market-moving events this week, with updates due on trade and inflation, while Apple kicks off a highly anticipated product event. Recession fears have edged down after the turmoil that racked markets earlier in the spring, but the market is still struggling with uncertainty regarding President Donald Trump's trade policies and their implications for the economy. While last week's jobs report showed a solid labor market, investors are monitoring how the inflation side of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate fares this week, and how it will influence the rate-cut outlook for the year. Meanwhile, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference will provide insight into not only new software updates but also the future of the AI race among mega-cap tech companies. Here's what investors are watching this week. US-China trade talks After last week's phone call between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, China and US trade officials are meeting in London on Monday for two days of trade negotiations. Last month's trade talks were key to calming recession fears and helped propel the S&P 500 to its highest levels since February, but concerns still remain. The biggest negotiation topic will be over China's exports of rare earth metals, which are critical components in manufacturing semiconductors, smartphones, and other technologies. Continued improvements in trade relations between the two countries will be critical to reducing volatility in the market and could shed clarity on the direction of tariff rates. CPI data The consumer price index for May will be released on Wednesday. Last month 's reading of 2.3% was fairly benign, but investors will continue to watch for signs of Trump's tariffs showing up in the hard data. Importantly, the reading will be key in determining the Fed's next move. The median forecast is for annual consumer inflation to have risen 2.5% last month. Meanwhile, expectations for the June 17 Fed meeting are for officials to keep interest rates unchanged. "The big surprise could be how little Trump's tariffs are boosting inflation despite upward pressures on prices-paid and prices-received indexes in the Fed's regional business surveys," wrote on Sunday. Yet, some strategists have predicted that inflation will pick up in the back half of this year, spurring stagflation concerns. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment will get a fresh reading on Friday. Sentiment has been low as Americans feel pessimistic about tariffs, though hard data that the Fed looks at has held up. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference All eyes will be on Apple this week as it kicks off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company is expected to unveil new AI features embedded in iOS 19. The conference will be an opportunity for Apple to address several headwinds it has faced this year. "In a nutshell WWDC is a pivotal moment in Apple's future as the developers are the hearts and lungs of the Cupertino growth story with the Street being laser-focused on Apple today," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote. The tech giant has trailed peers like Microsoft and Google in the AI race, and its stock has taken a beating this year as the worst-performing Magnificent Seven member, largely due to concerns about tariffs and iPhone production. Last month, Trump threatened a tariff of at least 25% on iPhones not made in the US. Investors will be looking for updates on Apple Intelligence as well, as the company's AI offering has been underwhelming to Wall Street. A key bond auction The US Treasury sells a lot of bonds, and usually the sale is unremarkable for markets. However, with deficit concerns running high as the GOP budget bill moves through Congress, a $22 billion auction of 30-year bonds on Thursday could move the market if demand appears weak. A weak sale of 20-year bonds last month rattled markets and sent yields surging, and all eyes are on this week's sale as a potential investor referendum on the sweeping tax and spending bill.
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
US, Chinese trade negotiators meeting in London
Top U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in London on Monday to try to fortify the countries' temporary trade truce, which is currently on track to expire in August. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer are in the U.K. for the talks with Chinese Vice President He Lifeng. It's unclear how long negotiations could last, but Chinese officials have predicted they could extend several days. 'The two sides need to make good use of the economic and trade consultation mechanism already in place, and seek win-win results in the spirit of equality and respect for each other's concerns,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian wrote in a post on X ahead of the meeting. 'The Chinese side is sincere about this, and at the same time has its principles.' President Trump confirmed plans for the London confab last week after a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who the president has described as 'extremely hard to make a deal with.' 'The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,' Trump wrote in a social media post Thursday. The two sides have been attempting to hash out a long-term trade agreement following Trump's announcement of sweeping tariff hikes on most countries in April. The Trump administration urged countries last week to come forward with deals more favorable to U.S. interests. U.S. and Chinese leaders brokered their temporary pause in the tariff hikes after meeting in Geneva last month. Under that arrangement, the U.S. lowered its tariff rate on Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent, and China agreed to lower its tariff to 10 percent from 125 percent for 90 days. China's exports to the U.S. were down 35 percent in May compared to last year, according to the latest analysis from Dutch multinational banking and financial services firm ING Group, adding pressure ahead of the latest round of meetings between the two countries. 'Exports to the U.S. surprisingly decelerated despite the trade war reprieve,' ING's analysts wrote. 'We expect that export growth to the US could recover in the coming months.' 'We could see import front-loading amid the still elevated risk that tariffs could once again move higher in light the uncertainty about trade talks over the past month,' the firm added.
