1 hour ago
25
Leopold Aschenbrenner built one of the most talked-about hedge funds in recent memory. Then the margin calls came.
Citadel has acquired approximately $16 billion in public equity holdings from Situational Awareness LP, the AI-focused fund Aschenbrenner launched after leaving OpenAI in 2024. The fire sale was triggered by margin calls from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan, which demanded additional collateral as the fund’s positions deteriorated rapidly during late July.
From $45 billion to forced seller
Situational Awareness LP peaked at roughly $45 billion in assets under management earlier in 2026, making Aschenbrenner one of the most successful new fund managers in a generation. By late July, he was liquidating the majority of his public portfolio to keep the lights on.
The damage came from both sides of the book. Long positions in semiconductor companies like SK Hynix and Micron got hammered as AI infrastructure stocks sold off. Meanwhile, short positions in software stocks moved against the fund.
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan all issued margin calls, leaving the fund with limited options beyond a rapid portfolio sale. Citadel stepped in as the buyer.
The crypto connection buried in the portfolio
Situational Awareness LP wasn’t just a pure AI play. The fund held positions in Bitcoin mining companies including Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, reflecting a thesis that high-performance computing for AI and crypto mining infrastructure are essentially two sides of the same coin.
Those stakes were part of the portfolio transferred to Citadel. The liquidation of these crypto-adjacent positions during late July likely contributed to selling pressure across the Bitcoin mining sector.
What Aschenbrenner kept
The fund retained its private holdings, including a stake in Anthropic. That’s notable because it means Aschenbrenner chose to protect his illiquid, higher-conviction positions while sacrificing the public book.
The result is a fund that went from diversified AI exposure across public and private markets to essentially a concentrated private equity vehicle in the span of a few days.
What this means for investors
Several AI-related equities reportedly steadied after news of the transaction emerged around July 30-31, suggesting Citadel’s acquisition provided a floor for several of the affected stocks.
The Situational Awareness blowup is a case study in what happens when leverage meets concentration in volatile sectors. A fund that grew to $45 billion in AUM was brought to its knees not by being wrong about the long-term AI thesis, but by being too leveraged to survive a short-term drawdown.
Many funds that appear to be pure AI or tech vehicles carry meaningful indirect crypto exposure through mining and infrastructure companies. When those funds face forced liquidation, selling pressure hits crypto-adjacent equities regardless of their individual fundamentals.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
English (US) ·