AI Bubble or Boom: Bet Against AI
- Vishwanath Akuthota
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Insights from Vishwanath Akuthota
Deep Tech (AI & Cybersecurity) | Founder, Dr. Pinnacle
The Big Short 2.0? Why Michael Burry’s Bet Against AI Should Make Us Think
Imagine a neighborhood where every house suddenly doubles in price — not because anyone built new rooms, but because everyone believes the street is now “hot property.” That’s what’s happening in the world of Artificial Intelligence right now.
Michael Burry, the maverick investor who famously predicted the 2008 housing collapse, just placed a billion-dollar bet against the AI boom. His firm, Scion Asset Management, revealed massive “put options” — financial bets that profit when stock prices fall — on two of the most talked-about tech giants: NVIDIA and Palantir. Together, those options make up almost 80% of his portfolio. That’s not just a trade; that’s a statement.
Why does this matter? Because Burry isn’t a man who bets on trends — he bets against illusions.
A Necessary Reality Check
Michael Burry’s $1B bet isn’t a prophecy — it’s a pulse check. It’s the market’s mirror moment, asking: Are we building sustainable intelligence or speculative illusion?
The technology is powerful. But power without grounding creates instability — in markets and in minds.
As I often remind leaders through Dr. Pinnacle’s philosophy:
“The future doesn’t belong to those who predict it, but to those who architect it — responsibly, privately, and truthfully.”
The AI boom isn’t ending; it’s maturing. The next phase will belong to those who merge innovation with integrity — where every algorithm earns its worth, and every idea pays back in real-world value.
Because in the end, technology doesn’t punish ambition — it punishes arrogance.
The Mirage of Infinite Growth
Let’s be honest: AI is the new gold rush. Every company now claims to be “AI-powered,” much like every dot-com startup in 1999 claimed to be “internet-based.” NVIDIA’s stock has skyrocketed, Palantir is riding a wave of government contracts, and investors are throwing money at anything labeled “machine learning.”
But here’s the catch — not all of it is real, not all of it is scalable, and certainly not all of it is profitable. It’s as if the market has fallen in love with the idea of AI, not its actual impact yet.
Think of it like buying a car because everyone says it’s the future, but no one checked if it actually runs without glitches or has a charging station nearby.
What Burry Might Be Seeing
When Burry says, “Sometimes we see bubbles… sometimes the only winning move is not to play,” he’s pointing toward a classic cycle of hype.
Here are a few signs that make his skepticism worth watching:
Valuations defy fundamentals: Many AI stocks are priced for perfection — assuming endless growth and dominance. But the math doesn’t always hold.
Hype > Delivery: Some companies announce “AI transformations” with vague details, while their earnings still depend on legacy products.
Speculation Fever: Retail investors are rushing in, FOMO-driven, without understanding what these technologies even do.
This is eerily familiar to what happened in 1999 before the dot-com crash. The technology was real — the timing was not.
The Pattern Is Familiar — But the Stakes Are Higher
We’ve been here before.
In 1999, the internet was real, but most “dot-com” stocks weren’t.
In 2017, blockchain was real, but most “crypto projects” weren’t.
Now in 2025, AI is real — but not every “AI company” is.
The difference this time is scale. AI isn’t just changing how we trade stocks or shop online — it’s redefining how we think, work, secure systems, and even make decisions. That’s why caution doesn’t mean cynicism. It means maturity.
As someone who has worked in AI and cybersecurity for over 16 years, I’ve seen how easily “innovation” can drift into illusion when people confuse data with insight and hype with progress. The winners of this era will be those who build responsibly, privately, and securely — not those who chase headlines.
AI Is Real. The Bubble Is Around It.
To be clear: Artificial Intelligence itself isn’t a bubble. It’s one of the most transformative technologies humanity has built — reshaping industries, education, and even governance.
But the financial speculation around it — the inflated valuations, the over-promised roadmaps, the unrealistic timelines — that’s where the bubble lies.
AI today is like electricity in the 1880s. Everyone knew it would change the world, but most early companies went bankrupt before society figured out how to wire it properly. The long-term winners weren’t those who shouted loudest about “electricity,” but those who built reliable, sustainable systems around it.
The Real Question Isn’t ‘Is AI a Bubble?’
It’s: Are we building with patience or gambling with hype?
The next few years will separate genuine AI builders from marketing illusions. Those focused on real-world outcomes — improving cybersecurity, enhancing productivity, or solving human-scale problems — will survive. The rest will evaporate like mist in morning light.
So when Michael Burry bets against AI stocks, he may not be betting against technology itself. He’s betting against greed disguised as innovation.
Final Thought by Vishwanath Akuthota
The AI revolution will not end with a crash — but some of its passengers might. The market will eventually reward those who build sustainable, ethical, and measurable AI systems. The rest, well, they’ll be remembered as the noise before the next renaissance.
Visionaries build foundations, not bubbles — Vishwanath Akuthota, Dr. Pinnacle.
Make sure you own your AI. AI in the cloud isn’t aligned with you—it’s aligned with the company that owns it.
About the Author
Vishwanath Akuthota is a computer scientist, AI strategist, and founder of Dr. Pinnacle, where he helps enterprises build private, secure AI ecosystems that align with their missions. With 16+ years in AI research, cybersecurity, and product innovation, Vishwanath has guided Fortune 500 companies and governments in rethinking their AI roadmaps — from foundational models to real-time cybersecurity for deeptech and freedom tech.
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