'Big Short' investor Michael Burry unpacks 'serious competition' for Nvidia that he thinks could shake up the AI trade

Michael Burry, the investor known from 'The Big Short,' warned in a Substack post on Tuesday that Nvidia faces 'serious competition' from AI startup Etched, which has raised $700 million at a $21 billion valuation and counts former Nvidia staff as about 15% of its workforce. Burry cited reports that Etched's AI chips achieved inference workloads in 44 days, compared to the typical six months or longer, and claimed an insider told him the chips offer 10x performance at lower cost per die, signaling potential disruption to the AI trade.

'Big Short' investor Michael Burry unpacks 'serious competition' for Nvidia that he thinks could shake up the AI trade Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com Michael Burry flagged a potential "disruption" for AI stocks that could stem from Etched, the tech startup hiring top Nvidia talent. - "Big Short" trader Michael Burry warns that Nvidia faces big competition from Etched. - He pointed to key details about the AI startup /category/startups , citing public reports and information he got from an insider. - The company could spark a broader reaction across the AI trade, Burry speculated. Michael Burry https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-burry-ai-tech-stocks-euphoria-internet-housing-bubbles-enron-2026-8 has fired another shot at AI kingmaker Nvidia https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nvda-stock . The investor, who rose to fame in "The Big Short," took aim at the Jensen Huang-led chipmaker in a new Substack post on Tuesday. This time, he flagged what he sees as "serious competition" for the GPU /glossary/gpu firm, pointing to reports about Etched https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/etched-raises-700m-at-a-21b-valuation-and-completes-first-customer-delivery-to-jane-street-1036471031 , an AI startup that has nabbed top talent at Nvidia and just secured a $700 million funding round with Jane Street, putting its valuation at a reported $21 billion. Burry pointed to key details about Etched's recruitment and the deployment of its AI chips, citing the Journal's report and information he received from an unnamed company insider. The firm is efficient. Etched said it took only 44 days to have its AI chips running inference /glossary/inference workloads. That process generally takes six months or longer. The firm hires from Nvidia . Etched also has a large group of staffers who previously worked at Nvidia https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-nvidia-employees-new-ai-startup-ventures-2026-6 , making up around 15% of its total workforce, the Journal's report said. "This is serious competition for NVDA," Burry wrote on Tuesday. "I am told by a semi insider this is looking at 10x performance at lower cost per die. That it came up so fast is a tell that disruption is in the pipeline, I am told," he added of the broader ramifications for the artificial intelligence trade https://www.businessinsider.com/anthropic-openai-ipo-ai-tech-stocks-china-kimik3-steve-eisman-2026-8 . Burry, a vocal skeptic of the AI rally, has repeatedly bashed Nvidia since returning to social media late last year. In the past, he's raised alarm on the circular nature of Nvidia's deals https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-michael-burry-nvidia-ai-deals-boom-microchips-infrastructure-2026-7 and troubling technical signals flashing in Nvidia's stock https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-nvidia-stock-price-crash-ai-tokenmaxxing-2026-5 . He's also placed bets against Nvidia https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-substack-short-nvidia-microsoft-meta-alphabet-2026-1 and other stars in the AI trade, like Oracle and Nebius https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-oracle-nebius-ai-stocks-data-centers-2026-8 , which fall within his larger thesis that AI is a market bubble that's poised for a large correction. Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-nvidia-ai-stocks-etched-competition-2026-8 Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI. Key Terms Explained Artificial Intelligence /glossary/artificial-intelligence The science of creating machines that can perform tasks requiring human-like intelligence — reasoning, learning, perception, language understanding, and decision-making. GPU /glossary/gpu Graphics Processing Unit. Inference /glossary/inference Running a trained model to make predictions on new data. NVIDIA /glossary/nvidia The dominant provider of AI hardware.