Carson Block built his reputation blowing up fraudulent Chinese companies. Now the Muddy Waters Capital founder is wrestling with a different kind of disruption: the possibility that artificial intelligence could eliminate up to 15% of high-paying jobs within three years.
That concern is forcing a rethink of the firm’s ambitions in India, where Block had announced plans just last year to launch a dedicated fund. It’s a notable pivot for a shop managing roughly $227 million in assets that was, until recently, looking to expand its geographic footprint.
From India ambitions to AI anxiety
In February 2025, Block publicly discussed exploring an India-specific fund. The strategy would have been either long-only or long-short, a clear departure from Muddy Waters’ bread-and-butter activist short-selling playbook that made it famous in Chinese markets.
By early 2026, Block had moved from bullish to bearish on the S&P 500, driven largely by his growing conviction that AI is about to reshape labor markets in ways most investors aren’t pricing in.
