"The big short" is making moves! The semiconductor surge triggers the "short selling" mechanism, increasing bets against the leading forces in AI computing power.

Michael Burry, famously known as "The Big Short," has consistently shared his pessimistic views of an impending doom on his Substack subscription platform. As global funds continue to flock to AI computing infrastructure themes, he has aggressively shorted popular AI tech stocks. The character based on Burry in the film "The Big Short" has increasingly intensified his short-selling activities, particularly around crowded trades related to AI computing infrastructure and the capital expenditure cycles of AI semiconductors. For instance, Burry has expressed bearish positions on NVIDIA Corporation, Tesla, Inc., Micron, Applied Materials, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF through put options or short positions. On Thursday, Eastern Time, Burry disclosed his latest portfolio adjustments, expanding his bearish bets on semiconductor stocks related to the AI computing theme while increasing several existing holdings. Burry's amplification of short positions in AI investment narratives serves as a warning to investors not to misinterpret a temporary rebound as a sign that the AI computing chain has fully reversed its trend. Citadel, the hedge fund giant led by billionaire Ken Griffin, struck a deal with the struggling hedge fund Situational Awareness, which helped trigger the long-awaited irrational exuberance rally in AI computing stocks globally, particularly those closely tied to AI computing semiconductors. After experiencing drastic sell-offs for three consecutive trading days, South Koreas composite stock index (KOSPI), home to major global memory chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, saw a record surge of 18% on Friday. The benchmark stock index of Taiwan, dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR, which controls nearly all global AI chip production capacity, rose by 8%. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, which includes leaders in the AI computing supply chain such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, and Advantest, climbed by 4%. On Thursday, a highly watched U.S. semiconductor index, known as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and regarded as a gauge for the global semiconductor sector, recorded its largest increase since April 2025. While engaging in buying consumer stocks and betting on gaming, "The Big Short" continues to hunt for AI opportunities. Stocktwits quoted Burry's paid subscription article on Substack, revealing that he has increased his holdings in gaming giants DraftKings (DKNG.US) and Flutter Entertainment (FLUT.US), as well as bolstered investments in Zoetis (ZTS.US) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU.US). He has also increased his bearish position on AI chip superpower NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) through put options, alongside short positions in DRAM/NAND memory chip giant Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX.US). His short positions on Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR.US) remain unchanged. Everything is about buying and increasing positions; there are no sales, Burry stated on Substack. Its reported that he increased his stake in DraftKings at around $23.40, noting that both DraftKings and Flutter are considered "large positions." He also significantly increased his holding in Zoetis at around $76, describing it as a "full position." Similarly, he made a substantial increase in the Canadian sports consumer leader Lululemon Athletica at around $118, also labeling it as a full position. Like the two stocks mentioned above, this represents a significant opportunity for building a base/consolidation after a long decline, Burry wrote. Explaining his logic for increasing positions, Burry stated that these recent trades reflect "a transfer of chips to more robust holders," and he believes that these three purchases have significantly released risk at current prices, especially for long-term-focused investors. In terms of options derivative operations for bearish trades, Burry has ramped up his position in QQQ put options (NASDAQ 100 Index ETF put options) set to expire on January 15, 2027, with a strike price in the high $500 range. He has also increased his position in NVIDIA Corporation put options set to expire on December 18, 2026, with a strike price in the historical low range of $100 to $125. Additionally, Burry expanded his short position in U.S. memory chip leader Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) at approximately $880, and amplified his short position in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ETF iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) at around $506. The latest report on July 30 distinctly separates mentions of "QQQ puts," "Nvidia puts," "Micron short position," and "SOXX short position," indicating that Burry isn't solely betting through options but is using long-dated puts on NVIDIA Corporation and the NASDAQ index while directly shorting Micron and certain semiconductor targets. Burry played the role of a "spoiler" on a day when semiconductor stocks rallied. In his July 30 Substack post, titled "Trading Post July 30, 2026," he noted, Everything is about buying and increasing positions, with no sales, and explicitly stated, To save time, let's summarize today's latest transactions. Thus, this wasnt merely a disclosure of previously accumulated positions on Thursday but rather a description of operations he executed or augmented on July 30 itself. Those transactions on that day included: Increasing QQQ put options expiring on January 15, 2027, with a strike price in the high $500 range; Increasing NVIDIA Corporation put options expiring on December 18, 2026, with a strike price in the low $100 range; Expanding direct short positions in Micron at about $880; Expanding short positions in SOXX at about $506. According to Burrys explicit wording in his July 30 Substack post, these additional short positions in NVIDIA Corporation, QQQ, Micron, and SOXX were transactions conducted on Thursday, U.S. time, rather than simply revealing previous actions on Thursday. However, they belong to disclosures made by the investor, and public data can only confirm the transaction date, direction, and approximate prices without independently verifying specific transaction timing, scale, and net short exposure. Burrys decision to continue increasing short exposure on a rally day indicates that his trading is not betting on the next quarter's AI orders immediately disappearing, but rather betting that the market has overestimated the potential full-cycle profits, free cash flow, and asset residual value that this round of capital expenditures could generate. Burry's core logic for shorting the AI investment theme since the fall of 2025 has primarily focused on "technological lifespan being shorter than accounting lifespan," capital expenditure growth outpacing verifiable AI monetization, and "real technological revolutions could also produce supply bubbles." Burrys public bearish stance on AI began in the fall of 2025. Scion's 13F filings through the third quarter of 2025 showed the company held corresponding put options for 1 million shares of NVIDIA Corporation and 5 million shares of Palantir; however, the listed figures of $187 million and $912 million correspond to nominal value of the underlying stocks, not the actual capital invested. Burry later clarified that the Palantir trade was executed by buying 50,000 put options at $1.84 each, amounting to an option premium cost of approximately $9.2 million. In November 2025, he further suggested that major cloud vendors extending the depreciation period for servers and network devices could underestimate depreciation expenses by approximately $176 billion cumulatively from 2026 to 2028, thus overstating related AI investment profits. Entering 2026, he gradually upgraded his single-point shorts to industry chain and index-level shorts: from April to May, he increased put options for NVIDIA Corporation, QQQ, SOXX, and Oracle Corporation, while establishing direct shorts in Palantir; at the end of May, he rolled over QQQ and SOXX options and heightened risk capital; on June 30, he established a direct short in NVIDIA Corporation at about $198.09 while also shorting Applied Materials, SOXX, and incorporating Tesla, Inc. and Carter's Incorporated into his cyclical shorts; on July 2, he shorted Micron at approximately $1,051.87; on July 17, he increased NVIDIA Corporation put options again while trimming half of his Oracle position due to overexposure; on July 30, he further ramped up shorts in NVIDIA Corporation, Micron, SOXX, and QQQ during a strong semiconductor bounce. For the AI computing supply chain, Burry's latest increases seem more like a mid-term tail risk alert rather than short-term commands that must be executed on Friday. His low strike price and long-dated options indicate he is betting on a non-linear downward adjustment of valuations and earnings expectations over the coming months, without requiring NVIDIA Corporation, Micron, or SOXX to decline continuously every day. At the same time, out-of-the-money put options are highly sensitive to time, volatility, and entry points; even if the ultimate direction is correct, an early positioning could lead to a total loss of the option premium.