NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's largest hedge

funds, Bridgewater Associates, Tiger Global Management and

Discovery Capital, increased their exposure to Big Tech in the

second quarter amid a generational boom in the growth of

artificial intelligence.

During the June quarter, hedge funds cut their exposure to

laggards in industries like aerospace and defense, and consumer

and retail, as part of a broader move back to momentum

investing.

It marks a big shift from earlier this year when bets on Big

Tech had soured for top money managers due to tariff-fueled

volatility in financial markets, with investor concerns around

rising inflation and fears of a bubble in AI triggering a

sell-off in "Magnificent Seven" stocks.

Since then, tech stocks have staged a big comeback. The S&P

500 is up 10% so far this year, buoyed largely by the

largest tech companies, which account for nearly a third of the

combined market cap of companies on the index.

Outside technology, some hedge funds, such as Lone Pine and

Discovery, also bet on UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ). Berkshire

Hathaway ( BRK/A ) and Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management

also unveiled bets on the insurer, while Soros Fund Management

boosted an existing position.

Shares in UnitedHealth ( UNH ) are down 46% this year, as the

company faces rising costs, a U.S. Department of Justice probe,

a cyberattack and the shooting of former top executive Brian

Thompson last December.

The fund's positions were revealed in quarterly securities

filings known as 13Fs. While backward-looking, these filings

typically reveal what funds owned on the last day of the quarter

and are one of the few ways hedge funds and other institutional

investors have to declare their positions.

Below are the details of the changes in the holdings of the

top hedge funds:

BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES

Bridgewater Associates added more shares in Nvidia ( NVDA ),

Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT ) in the second quarter.

The macro hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio more than doubled

its bets in Nvidia ( NVDA ). It ended June with 7.23 million shares in

the chipmaker, or 154.5% more than it had at the end of March.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was Bridgewater's biggest bet in a single stock, totaling

$1.14 billion.

Its holdings in Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT ) went up by 84.1% and

111.9%, respectively, amounting to $987 million and $853

million.

Other AI-related stocks added were Broadcom ( AVGO )

(+102.7%), to 317.8 million shares, or $317 million, and Palo

Alto Networks ( PANW ) (+117%), to 313.8 million, or $314

million.

DISCOVERY CAPITAL

Discovery Capital, whose founder Rob Citrone has recently

been bullish on Mexico's America Movil due to its

exposure to Latin America, doubled its stake in the wireless

provider during the second quarter.

For the quarter ended June 30, the fund amassed another 2.65

million shares, valuing its current holding in America Movil at

about $95 million.

Citrone's hedge fund, which generated a 52% windfall on its

investments last year, has increased its exposure to Latin

America as part of a strategy to diversify from U.S. holdings.

During the quarter, Discovery increased its holdings in Big

Tech, as it more than doubled its stake in Meta Platforms ( META )

, the parent company of Facebook, while also betting on

booming demand for AI as it took a new position in Nvidia ( NVDA )-backed

cloud provider CoreWeave ( CRWV ).

The hedge fund also increased its position in UnitedHealth ( UNH )

by 13%.

TIGER GLOBAL MANAGEMENT

Tiger Global Management bought more stocks in some

Magnificent Seven companies in the second quarter, including

Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Alphabet, Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta, its

13Fs showed.

Chase Coleman's hedge fund added roughly 4 million shares of

Amazon ( AMZN ) and ended June with roughly 10 million shares, worth

$2.34 billion.

The fund also increased its bets in smaller AI-players. It

added over 800,000 shares in chip-making equipment supplier Lam

Research Corp ( LRCX ), ending June with 5.26 million shares,

valued at $512 million.

COATUE MANAGEMENT

Many changes in Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management

portfolio were also around AI-related stocks. It unveiled new

positions in both Arm Holdings and Oracle,

adding stakes worth roughly $750 million and $843 million,

respectively. Both companies have boosted AI-related business

initiatives.

Coatue also increased its holdings in Nvidia ( NVDA )-backed

CoreWeave ( CRWV ), adding 3.39 million shares in the second quarter,

with its stake in the company worth $2.9 billion.

LONE PINE

Lone Pine Capital took a new position in UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ),

buying up 1.69 million shares worth about $528 million during

the June quarter.