Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness LP, has seen its assets under management slashed to about $10 billion following urgent margin calls. The fund, once managing over $20 billion, had to offload most of its public equities, selling them to Citadel last month.
Launching in late 2024 with just $225 million, Situational Awareness grew rapidly as Aschenbrenner, known for his insights on AI and superintelligence, focused on AI infrastructure firms, data centers, Bitcoin miners, and related sectors. The fund posted extraordinary net gains, with returns of roughly 439% through mid-2026, propelling its portfolio above $20 billion and even nearing $24 billion at peak.
The fall came swiftly
A sharp downturn in AI-centric stocks in July hit hard. Leveraged positions as high as four times magnified the blow. To meet margin calls, the fund scrambled to liquidate its public equity holdings, a move that halved its assets nearly overnight. Despite the sell-off, it still holds significant private stakes, notably a $5 billion position in Anthropic, a major AI firm and an OpenAI rival.
