• Get Into AI
  • Posts
  • The Big Short Guy Just Bet $1 Billion Against AI

The Big Short Guy Just Bet $1 Billion Against AI

Michael Burry thinks the AI boom is starting to look like 1999 all over again

In partnership with

The Tech newsletter for Engineers who want to stay ahead

Tech moves fast, but you're still playing catch-up?

That's exactly why 100K+ engineers working at Google, Meta, and Apple read The Code twice a week.

Here's what you get:

  • Curated tech news that shapes your career - Filtered from thousands of sources so you know what's coming 6 months early.

  • Practical resources you can use immediately - Real tutorials and tools that solve actual engineering problems.

  • Research papers and insights decoded - We break down complex tech so you understand what matters.

All delivered twice a week in just 2 short emails.

Michael Burry is back.

You probably know him as that guy from The Big Short, the investor who predicted the 2008 housing crash before anyone else did. Now he is taking aim at a new bubble: artificial intelligence.

His fund, Scion Asset Management, just placed more than $1.1 billion in bearish bets against two of the biggest names in AI, Nvidia and Palantir. Both have become symbols of the AI stock market craze.

The bet is structured through “put” options, which means Burry is wagering that their stock prices will fall. If he is right, he stands to profit massively. If not, it is an expensive reminder that even legends can be early.

What’s happening

Nvidia and Palantir stock performance over the past year. Both have seen explosive growth, fueling concerns about an AI-driven market bubble.

  • Burry’s fund reportedly bought $912 million in puts against Palantir and another $187 million against Nvidia.

  • Last week, he reappeared on X after a long break and shared several ominous charts.

  • One showed how tech spending today mirrors the dot-com bubble, and another revealed cloud growth slowing down across major companies.

  • He even posted a picture of Christian Bale playing him in The Big Short, which immediately went viral.

For context, Nvidia recently hit a $5 trillion valuation, briefly becoming more valuable than the GDP of Germany. Palantir’s stock has jumped over 400% in the past year. So if anyone is wondering why Burry smells a bubble, those numbers make it clear.

Why it matters

Nasdaq’s AI rally mirrors the 1998-2001 dot-com bubble, fueling Michael Burry’s warning of a possible correction.

When Michael Burry bets against something, people pay attention. He does not make noise for fun.

Back in 2005, he quietly placed a billion-dollar wager against the U.S. housing market. Everyone thought he was wrong. Two years later, the global economy crashed, and his fund soared almost 500%.

So when he calls out AI as the next big bubble, investors start listening.

Even top executives in tech are beginning to agree.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman admitted earlier this year that investors are probably “overexcited.”
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said much of the capital being poured into AI will “turn out to not deliver returns.”

The hype cycle is real. AI is transforming industries, but the market may be moving faster than the actual results can catch up.

What to keep an eye on

  • Nvidia and Palantir earnings: Can they sustain growth and justify their massive valuations?

  • Venture capital funding: Over $160 billion has already flowed into AI this year. That pace will not hold forever.

  • Investor sentiment: If more big funds start sharing Burry’s skepticism, the correction could arrive sooner than many expect.

Our take

Whether Burry is right or not, his timing says a lot about the state of the market. AI has gone from “next big thing” to “everything,” and that kind of excitement rarely lasts without a correction.

Healthy skepticism keeps things grounded. It reminds everyone that AI is a long game, not a quick jackpot.

Maybe this is a small pause before the next wave of innovation. Or maybe it is the market catching its breath. Either way, it is worth watching what happens next.

Catch you tomorrow.

If this helped you understand the story behind the headlines, share Get Into AI with someone who is following the AI gold rush and wondering how long the boom will last.

Did you like today's issue?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Reply

or to participate.