Via theenergymag.com
Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI-focused fund, which turned $225 million into an estimated $20 billion empire, liquidated all public equities amid 4x leverage pressure.
One of the most talked-about hedge funds in AI investing just hit the eject button on every single public stock it owned. Situational Awareness LP, the fund run by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, sold its entire public equities portfolio before Thursday’s trading session, reportedly off everything to a single buyer.
The reason? Margin pressure. When you’re running leverage reportedly as high as 4x, a bad week doesn’t just sting. It breaks things.
From 439% gains to full liquidation #
Through June 2026, the fund had posted an approximate 439% net gain since inception. Some snapshots showed year-to-date returns north of 147%. The fund had grown from roughly $225 million in assets under management at its late 2024 launch to somewhere between $20 billion and $24 billion by mid-2026. Backers included Patrick and John Collison, the brothers behind Stripe, along with quantitative trading giant Jane Street.
The liquidation happened on or around July 30, with the fund’s entire public portfolio reportedly going to a single buyer.
What was in the portfolio #
Situational Awareness LP’s strategy centered on AI infrastructure and data-center proxies. Among the fund’s holdings prior to liquidation were Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, two of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miners. The fund also held positions in Bloom Energy, a fuel cell and energy company that has become a favorite among investors betting on the massive power demands of AI data centers.
The pivot to private markets #
The fund is reportedly continuing to seek new capital and market its private positions, including a stake in Anthropic that was acquired at a valuation near $60 billion. Unlike public equities, it can’t be margin-called into oblivion on a rough Tuesday. The shift from public to private holdings effectively transforms Situational Awareness LP from a leveraged public markets fund into something closer to a concentrated venture and growth equity vehicle.
What this means for investors #
The immediate concern for anyone holding AI infrastructure stocks or Bitcoin mining equities is straightforward: a multi-billion-dollar forced seller just dumped everything at once.
For crypto-native investors, the Bitcoin miner angle deserves particular scrutiny. Riot Platforms and CleanSpark have increasingly been held by crossover funds that view them as AI plays rather than pure crypto plays. When those crossover holders face margin pressure from their broader tech portfolios, the selling hits miner stocks regardless of Bitcoin’s own price action. Aschenbrenner was part of OpenAI’s Superalignment team before departing in 2024 and founding the fund, which he named after his influential essay series on AI progress. The fact that he’s keeping his Anthropic stake while dumping everything public suggests he still believes the thesis.
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