Hedge funds and other short sellers are watching closely as Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus prepares for a potential $7bn listing on the ASX, with the stock expected to attract positions on both sides of the market once trading begins, according to a report by Capital Brief.

Bankers are sounding out institutional investors ahead of the IPO bookbuild on 6 October, as Firmus seeks to turn significant investor enthusiasm and high-profile backing into one of Australia's largest recent technology listings.

The company, led by co-CEOs Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, has attracted comparisons with SpaceX because of the scale of the proposed offering and the expectations surrounding its growth prospects.

For hedge funds, however, the listing also presents a potential opportunity to bet against the company's valuation if concerns emerge over the outlook for AI infrastructure demand.

Short sellers have already accumulated significant positions against several US-listed companies operating in areas related to Firmus, suggesting the Australian company could face similar scrutiny once its shares become publicly tradeable.

SpaceX provides a recent example of how a heavily anticipated technology IPO can develop into a significant short-selling opportunity. Short sellers reportedly generated a paper profit of about $15.5bn after the company's shares fell below their initial offer price just weeks after its listing.

Firmus is coming to market at a time when investors are debating whether spending on AI infrastructure can continue at its current pace. Concerns have been heightened by calls from senior technology executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, for greater coordination around the development of frontier AI systems.

The debate creates an unusually wide range of potential outcomes for newly listed companies exposed to the AI investment cycle, particularly those whose valuations incorporate expectations of sustained infrastructure growth.