The founder of Citrini expressed shock over its AI prediction causing a sharp drop in the stock market.

Founder of Citrini Research, James Van Gillen, released a "dystopian-style" prediction report on the future of artificial intelligence, which unexpectedly caused extreme volatility in the US stock market on Monday. Van Gillen responded, stating that if he had known the article could impact the stock market, he would never have released it for free. He believes that the market's sensitivity to such topics has reached a critical point. The report, titled "Global Intelligence Crisis in 2028," invents a terrifying scenario: mass white-collar unemployment triggering a deflationary chain reaction, causing unemployment rates to soar above 10% and stock prices to be halved. The S&P 500 index, impacted by this shock, went from gains to losses, with a daily drop of more than 1%. Software ETFs plummeted by over 4%, and financial stocks had their worst single-day performance since April 2024. Stocks of companies mentioned in the report, such as ServiceNow, DoorDash, and American Express, all saw declines, despite Citrini's statement that they did not short these targets.