Michael Burry: OpenAI and Anthropic use AI doomsday fears to shield incumbents and hype IPOs
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-09-16
Investor Michael Burry called out OpenAI, Anthropic and other hyperscaler execs for their 'slow down AI' rhetoric, arguing it is self-serving on multiple fronts:
- LLMs are not AI and won't become AGI, so there is no dangerous intelligence trajectory worth deliberately slowing.
- Regulation as a moat: requirements for expensive evaluations, security systems, reporting, audits and government approval cost big labs relatively little versus small ones, turning regulation into an entry barrier against fast-rising competitors.
- IPO hype: 'we are so awesome it could become dangerous' is puffery that inflates the companies' perceived importance ahead of public listings — and cover for genuinely uncontrollable slowing growth as IPOs look to be pushed out.
Burry, known for betting against AI-linked stocks, directly ties AGI safety narratives to commercial incentives.
Related event: Michael Burry Slams OpenAI/Anthropic AI Safety Warnings as Pre-IPO Hype(9 posts)→
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