Michael Burry says Anthropic is 'betting its existence' on optimism

Michael Burry says he will avoid Anthropic’s planned IPO, arguing that the AI company’s valuation depends on optimistic assumptions about future growth while its infrastructure commitments create substantial financial risk. An amended filing reported third-quarter revenue of $17 billion, but also disclosed $895.4 billion in commitments for computing power, chips, and other infrastructure needed to operate its models. Burry argues that even bullish forecasts of $100 billion in revenue over the coming year look small against those future obligations, which he says are roughly 12 times that target.

His concern is not only the scale of spending but also the terms of Anthropic’s agreements with major cloud providers. Under “take-or-pay” contracts, the company may have to pay for computing capacity even when it does not need it, potentially driving up costs and making Claude less competitive with rival AI models. Burry warns that investors may not fully appreciate the consequences for Anthropic or the wider AI market until later. His view has shifted since April, when he praised Anthropic’s Claude as gaining ground on Palantir and saw a broader move toward easily integrated AI models as an advantage for the company.