Michael Burry's "Big Short II" is coming

If you know finance history, you know Michael Burry is that guy. He's the eccentric doctor-turned-investor who basically watched the 2008 housing market collapse play out in slow motion, made $800 million betting against the entire system, and became a legend. Well, buckle up, because Burry has just declared that the current, AI boom is just a re-run of a classic bubble, and he’s betting nearly a billion dollars that the party will end in tears.

His target? The darling of the data world, Palantir Technologies ($PLTR). This stock has been absolutely crushing it, clocking an insane 180% gain in the last year alone, but Burry is not impressed. He threw down a massive, $9.2 million bet via put options, a fancy term for 'betting that the stock price is about to face-plant.'

The Drama: The AI Bubble and the Depreciation Scam

So, what's got the OG Short-Seller so triggered this time? It’s not complex mortgages, it’s an absolute flex of financial accounting shade.

Burry took to X to rant, claiming that Big Tech companies are pulling a subtle but huge accounting trick. He says they’re lying about how long their expensive Nvidia chips actually last by extending the 'useful life' of these assets. He claims this drastically understates their yearly depreciation costs.

He dropped some wild receipts, claiming that companies like Oracle and Meta could be overstating earnings by over 20% by 2028. He’s essentially saying the whole AI hype train is being fueled by paper profits and chips that are basically obsolete but still lingering on the balance sheet.

The other side, the Palantir and AI Fanatics, are trying to cool the flames, arguing that the GPUs are different. They point out that demand for rental computing power is insane. But Burry is standing firm.

Preventing the repeat of 2005

But the move that really broke the internet? Right after dropping this mega-short bet, Burry reportedly closed down his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.

Back in 2005, his investors nearly took him out when his short bet against the housing market was 'early' and his fund was bleeding cash. They kept pressuring him to quit right before he made them all rich. This time, he refuses to go through all that stress again.

By closing the fund, he essentially fired all his external investors. He can now relax, manage his own massive pile of money, let the AI bubble play out on his timeline, and enjoy the show without ridiculous emails from investors.

Michael Burry is betting against one of the hottest stocks on the planet, he thinks the foundation of the AI boom is financially sketchy, and there's no one stopping him this time.