Ex-OpenAI Researcher's $20B Hedge Fund Plummets Due to Leveraged AI Losses
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-08-01
Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher, saw his $20 billion hedge fund, Situational Awareness, suffer massive leveraged losses in AI supply chain investments and is now seeking fresh capital, according to the Financial Times.
The fund previously posted a staggering 439% return by heavily investing in AI chips, compute, and energy suppliers (such as SK Hynix and Bloom Energy). However, as these stocks pulled back significantly, leverage amplified the losses, crashing its assets under management from a $45B peak to roughly $10B. Most of its public stock portfolio was sold off to Citadel.
The fund's surviving core asset is a private stake in Anthropic worth $5B. Aschenbrenner views the recent selloff as a buying opportunity and is asking clients for new capital to meet collateral demands or purchase assets post-decline.
Related event: Ex-OpenAI Researcher's Hedge Fund Plunges 67% Amid Leveraged AI Bet(4 posts)→
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