Billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones issued a stark warning during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box Tuesday morning, cautioning investors about the potential economic fallout from 145% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the US and the risk of new market lows. Beyond trade war and market concerns, Jones expressed deep unease about the developments surrounding artificial intelligence, which he described as an imminent threat to humanity.
“For me, 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.
PTJ, founder and CIO of Tudor Investment, pointed out, “We’ll probably go down to new lows, even when Trump dials back China to 50%.”
According to Paul Tudor Jones even if Trump slashes China tariffs by 50%, the stock market is still on track to make new lows. pic.twitter.com/kdzDgIkVfp
— Menthor Q (@MenthorQpro) May 6, 2025
In a note to clients earlier, Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote, “The mood music with China has improved, and we expect the US tariff rate on China to drop from around 160% to around 60% relatively soon. (China is likely to reduce tariffs on the US by a similar amount.)”
Goldman offered some good news last week: peak trade war. Plus, the folks who attended the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills on Monday are “warming up” to the tariff environment.
PTJ said that even if Trump rolls back some tariffs on China, “it’ll still be the largest tax increase since the ’60s,” adding, “So you can take 2% to 3% off growth.”
Last week’s GDP report showed ominous storm clouds gathering over the US economy: Q1 GDP printed -.3%, worse than the -.2% expected and the first negative print since 1Q22 when the economy was in a recession but was subsequently revised out of it.
On the subject of the Federal Reserve, PTJ said:
“Unless they got really dovish and really, really cut, you’re probably going to go to new lows. And then when we’re new lows, the hard day will start to follow, and it’ll probably create the Fed to move, create Trump to move. And then we’ll get some kind of reality.”
As of Tuesday morning, interest-rate swaps are pricing in three 25-basis-point cuts by year-end, with the first expected in July.
As part of his apocalyptic warning—echoing rhetoric from Elon Musk and BCA Research in recent years—PTJ cautioned: “There’s a 10% chance AI will kill 50% of humanity in the next 20 years.”
PAUL TUDOR-JONES: “AI CLEARLY POSES AN IMMINENT THREAT TO HUMANITY IN OUR LIFETIME”
PAUL TUDOR-JONES: THERE IS A 10% CHANCE AI WILL LEAD TO A WEAPON THAT TAKES OUT HALF OF HUMANITY
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 6, 2025
Did PTJ watch the science fiction classic “The Terminator” (1984) before heading to CNBC’s studio?
And apparently he listens to Joe Rogan…
Paul Tudor Jones on #CNBC this morning says
“10% chance AI will kill 50% of humanity in the next 20 years”
And apparently he listens to Joe Rogan regularly $SPX $NVDA #StockMarket https://t.co/T5nBUL1o7E pic.twitter.com/7WQK9ijSDZ— Infinitus Capital (@InfinitusCap) May 6, 2025
Remember BCA Research’s warning:
“The safety risks around AI are huge, and we think there is a more than 50/50 chance AI will wipe out all of humanity by the middle of the century” – BCA Research pic.twitter.com/MDHQ1TyeDW
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 12, 2023
And Elon Musk’s.
Elon Musk says there’s a 10 to 20% probability that AI annihilates us. pic.twitter.com/WgOozWQW2s
— ControlAI (@ai_ctrl) July 16, 2024
Notice how PTJ wasn’t concerned about nuclear war—instead, his focus was on tariffs and AI.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/06/2025 – 13:00
