Key Highlights

  • SoundHound AI ranks first, with 170,799,103 shares sold short at the October 15, 2026 settlement date, about 38.5% of shares outstanding.
  • Four of the five names are trading lower on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, and CleanSpark is the only gainer, at 1.04%.
  • Serve Robotics has the longest cover period at 10.43 days, against 3.15 days for CleanSpark.
  • Quantum Computing is the only name measured against float, at 33.57% of float or 29.75% of shares outstanding.
  • BigBear.ai's short position fell to 136,497,137 shares on October 15 from 140,863,872 on September 30.

Which Technology and AI Stocks Are the Most Shorted on October 28?

Five technology and AI names with heavy short positions are moving modestly on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) is trading 1.95% lower at $4.28 with 170.8 million shares sold short, and Serve Robotics (NASDAQ:SERV) is trading 1.87% lower at $2.88 with a short position of about 36% of its shares. Quantum Computing (NASDAQ:QUBT) is trading 1.24% lower at $6.78 with 33.57% of float sold short, BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI) is trading 1.28% lower at $2.32 after third-quarter revenue growth of 31%, and CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) is trading 1.04% higher at $8.27 as it builds an AI data center under a $6.6 billion lease.

The ranking uses shares sold short as a percentage of shares outstanding, the one basis available for all five. Dates differ: SoundHound, Serve and BigBear.ai use the October 15, 2026 settlement date, Quantum Computing uses the latest available reading, updated October 27, and CleanSpark's figure is for the May 29, 2026 settlement date, so its place rests on the oldest reading. Quantum Computing's 33.57% is a share of float, a different base, so it is ranked on its 29.75% of shares outstanding. No company release dated October 28 is cited for any of the five, and BigBear.ai reported results a day earlier.

1. SoundHound AI: Why Is the Most Shorted Name Slipping 1.95%?

SoundHound is a voice and agentic AI company serving automotive, financial services, healthcare, retail and telecommunications customers. Shares are trading 1.95% lower at $4.28, implying a prior close near $4.37 (calculated), and no company release dated October 28 accompanied the move. Short interest of 170,799,103 shares at the October 15 settlement date was up 11,865,325 from 158,933,778 (about 7.5%, calculated), equal to 10.05 days to cover and about 38.5% of the 444.11 million shares outstanding.

Second-quarter revenue rose 45.0% to $61.9 million, with a GAAP net loss of $42.8 million, and cash was $203 million with no debt at June 30. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance was raised to $230 million to $260 million and is to be updated after the pending acquisition of LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) closes, which the company expects before the end of 2026.

2. Serve Robotics: Why Are Shares Easing After Tuesday's 11.36% Jump?

Serve designs autonomous sidewalk delivery robots and was spun out of Uber (NYSE:UBER) in 2021. Shares are trading 1.87% lower at $2.88 after closing up 11.36% on Tuesday, October 27, and no release dated October 28 accompanies the dip. Short interest was 31,217,126 shares at the October 15 settlement date, up from 29,861,327 on September 30, equal to 10.43 days to cover and about 36% of the 86.71 million shares outstanding (calculated).

On August 6 the company cut 2026 revenue guidance to $9 million to $10 million from $26 million after Uber Eats volumes fell short, and said it did not currently expect to renew that agreement when it expires in early 2027. Second-quarter revenue was $3.2 million with a net loss of $64.1 million, revenue from DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) rose nearly 50% sequentially, and cash and marketable securities were $240.4 million at June 30.

3. CleanSpark: Why Is a Bitcoin Miner Edging 1.04% Higher Among the Most Shorted?

CleanSpark is trading 1.04% higher at $8.27, an implied prior close near $8.18 (calculated), the only gainer of the five, and no release dated October 28 accompanied the move. The latest dated short-interest figure is for the May 29, 2026 settlement date: 83,872,674 shares, down 182,730 from 84,055,404 on May 15, with 3.15 days to cover and about 32.7% of the 256.6 million shares outstanding.

The bitcoin miner has been converting part of its portfolio toward AI and high-performance computing. In its fiscal third-quarter release of August 6, 2026 it reported a 20-year, $6.6 billion triple-net lease at Sandersville with an investment-grade tenant it did not name. Revenue fell 30.5% to $138.0 million, the net loss was $239.8 million, and cash was $202.6 million against long-term debt of about $1.78 billion at June 30.

4. Quantum Computing: Why Is the Stock Dipping Despite a Revenue Surge?

The Hoboken, New Jersey company builds photonic quantum systems. Shares are trading 1.24% lower at $6.78, an implied prior close of about $6.87 (calculated), and no company release accompanied the move. The latest short-interest data, updated October 27, 2026, shows 67.35 million shares sold short, up from 64.70 million a month earlier, equal to 33.57% of float, 29.75% of shares outstanding and 9.86 days to cover.

Second-quarter revenue was $5.551 million versus $61,000 a year earlier, with a net loss of $11.753 million, and cash and investments were about $1.3 billion at June 30. It said in mid-October it would work with INmune Bio (NASDAQ:INMB) on quantum optimization for drug research, and third-quarter results are due November 9, 2026.

5. BigBear.ai: How Does a 31% Revenue Gain Sit With a $76.7 Million Impairment?

BigBear.ai, based in McLean, Virginia, builds AI-powered products for national security, trade and travel customers. Shares are trading 1.28% lower at $2.32, an implied prior close near $2.35 (calculated), a day after third-quarter results on October 27. Revenue rose 31% to $43.6 million, while a $76.7 million non-cash goodwill impairment drove a net loss of $91.9 million, or $0.19 per share.

Short interest was 136,497,137 shares at the October 15 settlement date, down 4,366,735 from September 30, with 6.76 days to cover versus 10.29 and about 28.5% of roughly 480.4 million shares outstanding (calculated). Full-year 2026 revenue guidance was raised to $150 million to $165 million, and backlog was about $330 million, with about 23% funded.

Most Shorted Technology and AI Stocks Compared: Short Sizes, Moves and Cover Periods

On the shares-outstanding basis, SoundHound's 38.5% is 10.0 percentage points above BigBear.ai's 28.5%, and Serve's roughly 36% sits 2.5 points below SoundHound (all calculated). SoundHound's 170,799,103 shares sold short are about 5.5 times Serve's 31,217,126 (calculated), yet the percentage gap is small because Serve has far fewer shares outstanding. Serve's 10.43 days to cover is 7.28 days longer than CleanSpark's 3.15 (calculated), though CleanSpark's figure is far older.

On the day, SoundHound's 1.95% decline and CleanSpark's 1.04% gain are 2.99 percentage points apart, while Serve and BigBear.ai differ by only 0.59 points (calculated). CleanSpark's $8.27 share price is $5.95 above BigBear.ai's $2.32 (calculated). Different dates and bases mean the comparisons describe positioning only, not direction.

What to Watch Next: The October 30 Settlement, November 9 Results and the LivePerson Close

The next short-interest settlement date is October 30, 2026, with SoundHound's update expected on November 10. Quantum Computing reports third-quarter results on November 9, 2026, and SoundHound expects its LivePerson acquisition to close before the end of 2026, after which it will update guidance. Serve has said it will report third-quarter results, CleanSpark's next report and Sandersville construction milestones are undated, and BigBear.ai's fourth-quarter report will show how much of its $330 million backlog becomes funded.