Michael Burry Bets Against Palantir as Anthropic Gains Market Share

Michael Burry, the investor famed for predicting the 2008 housing collapse, has intensified his bearish stance on Palantir (PLTR). Burry recently asserted that Anthropic is "eating Palantir's lunch," suggesting that the economic value in the AI ecosystem is shifting toward the creators of large language models (LLMs) rather than the platforms that implement them. Burry's conviction is backed by a $9.2 million investment in long-dated put options. He points to Anthropic's rapid growth, noting that its annual recurring revenue (ARR) surged from $9 billion to $30 billion. According to Burry, businesses are increasingly opting for Anthropic's more intuitive and cost-effective products over traditional software solutions. A key pillar of Burry's thesis is Palantir's dependency on third-party LLMs. He argues that because Palantir's AI platform relies on external models to function, the long-term value accrues to the model owners. This vulnerability was highlighted earlier this year when Palantir was forced to remove Claude from its systems during a dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon. The market responded sharply to these concerns, with Palantir shares dropping 13% over a two-day period. While Palantir continues to report strong fundamentals—including a 70% revenue growth rate in the fourth quarter—its valuation remains a point of contention. Trading at a price-to-sales ratio of 85, it stands as the most expensive stock in the S&P 500, leaving it highly susceptible to negative sentiment and competitive threats.