Michael Burry, the prominent investor famously portrayed in the film "The Big Short," has placed a significant bearish bet against technology giant Oracle Corporation. This move signals his skepticism towards the company's aggressive and costly expansion into artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing infrastructure.
Burry's Bearish Stance on Oracle and AI
In a recent disclosure on Substack, Burry confirmed he holds put options against Oracle shares and has been directly shorting the stock over the past six months. This strategy follows his earlier revealed short positions against AI chipmaker Nvidia and data analytics firm Palantir Technologies in November 2025. When questioned about his rationale for targeting Nvidia over Oracle at the time, Burry expressed clear disapproval, stating, "I do not like how it is positioned or the investments it is making. It did not need to do what it is doing, and I do not know why it is doing this. Maybe ego."
Oracle's High-Stakes AI Gamble
Oracle's strategy involves a massive buildout of data centre capacity to compete in the cloud services market, a move largely financed through debt. The company currently carries approximately $95 billion in outstanding debt, ranking it as the largest corporate issuer outside the financial sector in the Bloomberg high-grade index. A landmark moment in this expansion was the signing of a monumental $300 billion, five-year cloud computing deal with Sam Altman's OpenAI in September 2025. Under this agreement, the creator of ChatGPT will purchase computing power from Oracle starting in 2027.
While the OpenAI deal is a major competitive win, it brings substantial execution risks and ongoing capital demands. Oracle's stock price has reflected this uncertainty, experiencing significant volatility. After an optimistic cloud business forecast spurred a 36% single-session jump in September 2025, the shares lost momentum as investor focus shifted to rising capital expenditures and debt. By the end of 2025, Oracle's stock was trading roughly 40% below its September peak.
Why Burry Avoids Big Tech Like Google and Meta
In his analysis, Burry explained why he steers clear of betting against technology behemoths such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet (Google's parent), and Microsoft. He argues these companies are not pure plays on AI. "If I short Meta, I’m also shorting its social media and advertising dominance. If I short Alphabet, I’m shorting Google Search in all its forms, Android, Waymo, etc. If I short Microsoft, I’m shorting a global office productivity SaaS goliath," he wrote.
He believes these giants, despite potential losses from overbuilding AI capacity, will remain dominant in their core businesses. "These three will not go away," he asserted. However, Burry expressed strong doubt about the economics of the AI boom, stating he would short OpenAI if it reached a $500 billion valuation. He also reiterated his view of Nvidia as a prime target, noting, "Nvidia also is the most loved, and least doubted. So shorting it is cheap, and its puts are cheaper than some of the other big shorts out there that are more doubted."
Michael Burry rose to global fame for his prescient bet against the US subprime mortgage market before the 2008 financial crisis. His current positions against Oracle and other AI-focused firms highlight his continued contrarian approach, focusing on companies he believes are overextending themselves financially in pursuit of the AI revolution.
