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By:

Kiran D. Tare

21 August 2024 at 4:53:13 pm

The Great Contrarian

Michael Burry made his reputation by seeing through the housing boom. Now he is turning his scepticism on AI by questioning the stories being told about it. Michael Burry has always had an uncomfortable relationship with consensus. When everyone else sees a boom, he tends to look for the balance sheet underneath it. Recently, when some of the globe’s most powerful executives began telling the public that Artificial Intelligence is something is both enormously valuable and dangerously...

The Great Contrarian

Michael Burry made his reputation by seeing through the housing boom. Now he is turning his scepticism on AI by questioning the stories being told about it. Michael Burry has always had an uncomfortable relationship with consensus. When everyone else sees a boom, he tends to look for the balance sheet underneath it. Recently, when some of the globe’s most powerful executives began telling the public that Artificial Intelligence is something is both enormously valuable and dangerously powerful, Burry’s instinct was to wonder who benefits from the story. Burry’s instinct – of saying directly that the Emperor has no clothes – has made him famous. As the physician-turned-investor immortalised in 2015 film The Big Short, Burry was one of the investors who saw the fragility of America’s housing market before the financial crisis of 2008. While Wall Street was busy packaging subprime mortgages into increasingly elaborate securities, he concluded that the loans were deteriorating, lending standards were weakening and house prices could not keep rising simply because the financial system assumed they would. This month, as some of the world’s most prominent AI executives began warning that the technology could produce catastrophic consequences unless its development was slowed, Burry again took aim at the argument. In a post on his Substack, Cassandra Unchained, he described the warnings from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Elon Musk as “self-serving” and suggested that the language of impending catastrophe was serving a very different purpose from public safety. Burry pulled no punches when he said that the technology’s boosters and its doomers can sometimes be selling the same product. Burry’s suspicion is that the more extraordinary AI appears, the more extraordinary its valuations become. The same behemoths then warn that AI development must be slowed, gain time and protection from their competitors. Burry’s suspicion is particularly pointed because OpenAI and Anthropic have been moving towards possible public listings at enormous valuations. Inc. reported his argument on September 16, noting his contention that AI safety warnings could provide “cover” for slowing growth and postponing IPO plans. Burry’s provocative formulation is that large language models are not themselves artificial general intelligence, and the industry’s rhetoric about slowing “AI” therefore risks confusing a specific class of technologies with a much broader hypothetical future. The current AI debate has increasingly acquired the language of science fiction when it speaks of machines that might escape human control and autonomous systems that might manipulate infrastructure. While such scenarios deserve examination, Burry asks a more mundane question: what if the companies issuing the warnings have commercial incentives that are being overlooked? It is a question characteristic of the man who became famous by reading the footnotes while everyone else watched the headline. Burry’s scepticism toward AI is not new. Since launching Cassandra Unchained in November 2025, he has made the economics of the AI boom one of its central subjects. His writings have examined what he calls “supply-side gluttony”, the enormous investment in AI infrastructure and the financial assumptions underlying the industry. He has also taken short positions against several beneficiaries of the AI boom, including Nvidia and Palantir, arguing that the market may be pricing in too much future success. In one series, The Heretic’s Guide to AI’s Stars, he has examined the accounts of Nvidia and the major hyperscalers, focusing on capital spending, financing arrangements, customer concentration, depreciation and other details that can disappear beneath the headline numbers. His argument is not simply that AI companies are overvalued. He sees familiar patterns in the rush to build infrastructure before the economic returns have been established. In June, he wrote that he had seen something similar before and compared the current AI capital flows with the exuberance of the late 1990s. Burry’s reputation has not been built on predicting every future development. Rather, it was built on being willing to ask whether the story everyone else was telling was supported by the evidence. The housing crisis taught investors that financial innovation could conceal old-fashioned bad lending. The AI boom may yet teach markets that revolutionary technology can coexist with inflated expectations and extraordinary valuations. Burry’s great talent is refusing to accept the present at face value. In a market increasingly dominated by grand claims about machines that will either save civilization or destroy it, that may be the most contrarian position of all.

Ayurveda 2.0: The Next Frontier of Skincare

Writer: Mona Pandit
Mona Pandit
Sep 22, 2025
3 min read

The modern consumer wants clean, multi-functional skincare that delivers both performance and purpose.

As the global beauty industry shifts towards clean, sustainable, and ethical products, India’s ancient wellness system – Ayurveda – is staging a quiet revolution. Once confined to traditional herbal remedies, Ayurveda is now poised to transform the booming world of skincare products by offering a compelling blend of beauty and therapeutic wellness.


This World Ayurveda Day, it's time to recognise the new frontier: Ayurveda 2.0—where skincare and personal care meet wellness, naturally.


Conscious Skincare

Millennials and Gen Z are redefining beauty standards. No longer content with chemically loaded, synthetic-laden products, they’re seeking clean, cruelty-free, and multi-functional solutions. This has created a massive opportunity for Ayurvedic brands to offer innovative skincare and personal products.


Ayurveda seamlessly aligns with this new-age demand. Unlike conventional skincare, which often prioritises quick fixes over long-term health, Ayurvedic formulations offer therapeutic value with every application. They work with the skin's natural biology to promote balance and health from within.


The line between skincare and overall wellness is blurring. Consumers no longer want "just" a cream or serum, but they want hybrid solutions that offer performance with purpose. This is where Ayurveda truly shines.


Ayurvedic brands are already innovating with UV-protective face creams that hydrate and shield. Shampoos that tackle dandruff while enhancing shine, as well as shower gels infused with potent herbs for skin health, are also entering the market. These are not just a trend, but they're the future. The global market is paying close attention to these effective and holistic solutions.


Ayurvedic Skincare

Ayurvedic solutions are crucial for long-term skin health because they focus on treating the root cause of skin issues, rather than just the symptoms. Instead of relying on harsh chemicals that can provide temporary results, Ayurvedic principles use natural ingredients to nourish and restore balance.


This approach acknowledges that skin health is intrinsically linked to internal well-being and environmental factors. For example, instead of drying out acne with harsh treatments, Ayurveda uses herbs like neem or turmeric to purify the blood and reduce inflammation. This holistic approach leads to clearer, healthier skin over time.


By promoting harmony within the body, Ayurvedic skincare helps the skin maintain its own health, making it more resilient and radiant over time.


The issues

While Ayurveda enjoys immense trust for its safety and holistic benefits, it faces a few hurdles before it can fully claim its place in the global skincare arena.


One of the biggest issues is standardisation. The potency of herbs and botanicals can vary by season, soil quality, and geography, making consistency a real challenge. Natural ingredients can also be prone to microbial growth and have shorter shelf lives.


These are not flaws, but they’re features of truly natural products. Still, consumers conditioned by the flawless aesthetics of synthetic cosmetics may take time to adapt.


Plant-based, water-rich, or oil-based formulations are prone to microbial growth without strong preservatives. Limited use of synthetic stabilisers leads to a shorter shelf life compared to conventional cosmetics.


Yet, as industry experts point out, these challenges are not insurmountable; they’re invitations for scientific innovation. The next phase of Ayurvedic beauty must blend tradition with modern R&D to ensure efficacy, safety, and stability without compromising authenticity.


The Ayurvedic personal care space is becoming increasingly crowded. Many brands loosely incorporate “Ayurvedic” elements as a marketing strategy, adding a dash of turmeric or a hint of sandalwood without genuine formulation expertise. This is both a risk and a remarkable opportunity.


As the category matures, brands with deep Ayurvedic legacies, proven expertise, and research-backed formulations will stand out. The demand for authentic, holistic, and effective Ayurvedic brands will be on the rise.


In conclusion

Ayurveda is not just a system of healing; it’s a philosophy of living in harmony with nature. In a world grappling with climate change, chemical overload, and rising skin sensitivities, this philosophy is more relevant than ever.


The future of Ayurveda in skincare isn’t about replacing modern products; it’s about enhancing them. With the right investments in science, safety, and storytelling, Ayurveda is uniquely positioned to lead the global wellness beauty movement, not as a trend, but as a timeless tradition reimagined for today. On this World Ayurveda Day, let’s celebrate not just what Ayurveda was but what it is becoming.


(The writer is the co-founder and managing director of RESHMONA Pharmaceuticals. Views personal.)

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