The bull vs the bear

It’s the Olympics… of the AI trade. Right now, the star players of the bull and bear teams are duking it out over whether the current tech downturn is the beginning of the end, or a buying opportunity.

Let’s take a look at our competitors: First, allll the way from Wedbush securities, we have Dan Ives (cue the sound of thousands of Tesla robots cheering). Ives is an avid tech bull who sees AI as a revolutionary force that will not only realign the entire economy, but will keep lifting shares of major tech companies to new heights.

And in the other corner, we have Michael Burry. You may recognize him from The Big Short, which earned him enough credibility to launch a Substack where he outlines his bearish theses on various companies. Burry is seriously skeptical of the AI trade’s valuations, and foresees (another) big bubble. Since launching his Substack Cassanda Unchained, he has unveiled bearish theses on firms like Nvidia, Palantir, Tesla, and most recently, Alphabet.

What they’re saying

So, is this recent tech downturn justified—or a moment for investors to get the biggest AI names at a bargain?

“Everything we are seeing in the field, along with our recent trips to CES in Las Vegas and at Davos...it’s crystal clear to us the AI Revolution is accelerating at a warp speed pace with 2026 being an inflection point year for AI,” wrote Ives on Monday.

And where should investors be looking specifically? “Focus on Microsoft and Google with this sell-off,” wrote Ives in a note this week. “We believe that Microsoft is on its way to accelerating cloud and AI monetization,” he added.

Burry is also telling investors to focus on Google, but for the totally opposite reason. Earlier this week, he wrote on X that Alphabet’s decision to offer 100-year debt as part of its massive bond sale mirrors Motorola’s in 1997—shortly before the stock’s epic downfall.

“At the start of 1997, Motorola was a top 25 market cap and top 25 revenue corporation in America. Never again,” Burry wrote ominously.

The big picture: The question of who’s wrong and who’s right in this case is impossible to answer. After all, it’s not just Ives and Burry—tons of the smartest experts around have totally opposing outlooks on how AI will end up shaping our economy.

For now, at least, the battle between bulls and bears will have to be a draw.—LB