Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher and one of the most successful investors of his generation, is reportedly unwinding a major portion of the portfolio managed by his Situational Awareness hedge fund.
The decision seems to have come following steep losses on artificial intelligence (AI) investments and bearish bets against software stocks, according to a CNBC report published on July 30.
Earlier, the Financial Times revealed that Aschenbrenner had sought fresh capital from existing investors and lenders as the fund grappled with mounting losses, some of them being offered to purchase portfolio assets directly.
Leopold Aschenbrenner’s portfolio suffers major losses
According to the reports, the combined losses forced the firm to unwind positions after its assets had grown to roughly $45 billion at the beginning of July. As such, the liquidity squeeze highlights the volatility of highly concentrated AI investments. Notably, Situational Awareness had returned roughly 439% after fees through the end of June 2026, just before this month’s sharp AI-driven selloff.
Among Aschenbrenner’s holdings that were hit the hardest were Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), as well as SanDisk (NASDSAQ: SNDK) and CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV).
While the situation does appear dire, the full extent of the losses has not been officially disclosed. What’s more, it remains unclear whether fresh capital has been secured from investors or lenders.
Also noteworthy is that Situational Awareness has recently maintained a bullish long-term outlook. For instance, in a July 24 letter to investors, the fund described the technology selloff as an attractive buying opportunity and pointed to a potential Anthropic initial public offering (IPO) as a future catalyst,
First-quarter filings also showed the fund expanding its exposure across AI-related infrastructure, initiating, for example, a $43.9 million position in T1 Energy (NYSE: TE) and acquiring 3.39 million shares of Vertiv Holdings (NYSE: VRT). Together, these moves underscore the firm’s conviction that AI would drive long-term growth.
So far, Situational Awareness is down around 67% in July, although it remains up about 80% on the year.
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