Paul Tudor Jones said the United States is late to regulating artificial intelligence and that action should have already been taken. Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday, he said, "We need to do it tomorrow. We're late already. We should have already done it." Jones said governments need to watermark AI to distinguish real content from deepfakes, and he said he recently bought more AI stocks.
Who Sets the Pace
Jones said that at a recent conference with AI experts and model makers, 80% of participants supported AI regulation, up from around 20% last year. He said the leader of one of those companies said he was surprised the industry wasn't regulated yet. Jones said lawmakers and experts have long advocated regulations to mitigate safety, privacy and security concerns associated with the technology.
The picture here is familiar: the people building and profiting from the machine move fast, and the public is left waiting for the apparatus to decide whether it should bother pretending to protect anyone. Jones, who said he recently bought more AI stocks, is talking about regulation while still feeding the same market that rewards the rush.
The article said the European Union passed the AI Act in 2024. It also said some U.S. states have passed or introduced their own legislation, many of which have targeted child safety. In March, the White House released a nationwide AI policy framework.
What the Institutions Call Action
Those moves show the usual hierarchy at work: a patchwork of laws, frameworks, and state-level measures, each presented as responsible governance while the technology keeps spreading through the economy. The European Union passed the AI Act in 2024, and some U.S. states have passed or introduced their own legislation, many of which have targeted child safety. In March, the White House released a nationwide AI policy framework.
Jones said the United States is locked in a heated rivalry with China to produce the best AI models and strategy. He said, "Everyone wants what's best for their people," and added that he does not believe China wants to "wipe out" the U.S. He said, "We should be having a dialogue with them about AI safety." The article also said The Wall Street Journal reported this week that both countries are considering official discussions about AI at an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping.
Rivalry, Markets, and Manufactured Urgency
The rivalry between the United States and China is being framed as a contest over the best AI models and strategy, with official discussions possibly landing at a meeting between President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping. That is the language of states and markets: competition first, safety later, and the public expected to trust that the same powers racing to dominate the field will somehow police it.
Jones said governments need to watermark AI to distinguish real content from deepfakes, a small technical fix offered inside a much larger system of corporate capture and state delay. He also said he recently bought more AI stocks, a detail that sits neatly beside the calls for regulation. The market keeps moving, the lawmakers keep talking, and the technology keeps rewriting the terms before anyone below gets a real say.
Jones said the United States is late to regulating artificial intelligence and that action should have already been taken. He said, "We need to do it tomorrow. We're late already. We should have already done it." The article’s timeline shows the same lagging pattern: the European Union passed the AI Act in 2024, the White House released a nationwide AI policy framework in March, and some U.S. states have passed or introduced their own legislation, many aimed at child safety. The machinery of governance arrives after the fact, as usual, while the bosses of the new economy keep cashing in.