"The Big Short" Burry: AI Infrastructure Has Become a Key Pillar of the U.S. Economy; Trump Cannot Afford for the AI Boom to Fail

Zhitong Finance APP learned that Michael Burry, the investor famous for accurately predicting the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, stated that the success of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is now just as crucial for the U.S. government as the tech giants driving this boom. The prototype character of the movie "The Big Short" said that the Trump administration has little room to let the AI boom cool down. He believes that although he remains bearish on several companies at the core of AI trading, AI infrastructure construction has become a key force supporting the U.S. economy.

It is reported that Burry wrote in a recent Substack chat: "Trump and his team know that the AI narrative and infrastructure construction are the only forces supporting this round of economic operation, and also the most positive thing that has happened this year." He added, "They cannot afford the cost of letting it fall." At the same time, he also questioned what measures Washington could actually take to prevent the economy from falling into a downturn.

Burry's initiation of shorting U.S. AI stocks began with put options on NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Palantir (PLTR.US) with a notional value of approximately $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2025. In 2026, this expanded into a full-chain short position network covering semiconductors, memory, and AI infrastructure, including short bets on Micron Technology (MU.US), Oracle (ORCL.US), Nebius (NBIS.US), and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX). He has repeatedly questioned the logic of AI investment, believing that huge capital expenditures may not necessarily translate into sustainable returns. In addition, circular financing, overstated GPU depreciation periods, and off-balance-sheet liabilities are all "pillars" of Burry's short position on U.S. AI stocks.