Citrini founder breaks silence after dystopian AI scenario sparks Wall Street panic: 'Wouldn't have made it free'

. The S&P 500 finished down more than 1%, financial stocks suffered their sharpest drop since April, and a leading software exchange-traded fund fell over 4%

• AI scenario essay by van Geelen sparked Wall Street selloff
• S&P 500 fell over 1%, software ETF dropped 4% after essay release
• Market rebounded but showed sensitivity to AI disruption fears

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James van Geelen did not expect to rattle Wall Street when he published a lengthy AI scenario on Sunday. But within hours, his firm, Citrini Research, was at the center of a market storm.

The 33-year-old released a more than 7,000-word post on Substack titled "The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis," outlining a hypothetical future in which rapid advances in artificial intelligence trigger sweeping white-collar layoffs, push unemployment above 10% and send stock prices plunging in a deflationary spiral.

By Monday morning, the essay had become a major talking point among investors. As markets opened, equities reversed early gains and slid lower. The S&P 500 finished down more than 1%, financial stocks suffered their sharpest drop since April, and a leading software exchange-traded fund fell over 4%. Shares of companies referenced in the report - including ServiceNow, DoorDash and American Express - also declined. Van Geelen said his firm holds no short positions in those names.

As the selloff unfolded, van Geelen's phone filled with messages from investors and prospective clients seeking access to his research or offering reactions.

"If I thought that stocks were going to move on this, I wouldn't have made it free," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. He made the remarks from Miami, where he was meeting clients.

Markets had already been uneasy after weeks of AI-driven volatility affecting sectors such as software, insurance brokerage, wealth management and cybersecurity. On Monday, those concerns - combined with geopolitical tensions, tariff worries and fresh apprehension about tools from AI startup Anthropic - intensified the decline.

A day later, many of the hardest-hit stocks rebounded alongside the broader market. Still, the brief turmoil underscored how sensitive Wall Street has become, as enthusiasm about AI's growth potential increasingly gives way to fears of disruption.

"The market is clearly jumpy about this," van Geelen said. "The article clearly served as a focus point for investors who were already concerned about the second-order disruption to incumbents by AI, and that anxiety hit a fever pitch when our article pointed to the worst-case scenario," the Bloomberg report quoted him as saying.

Van Geelen did not originally plan a career in finance. As a college student, he intended to pursue medicine but changed course before entering medical school. He later founded an alternative medicine company, which he sold to a private equity firm in 2018. The proceeds helped fund his move into investing and research writing.

He first gained broader recognition on Wall Street following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023. After publicly disclosing a short position in the lender in late 2022, the bank failed months later, drawing attention to his analysis.