How Leopold Aschenbrenner built a $45 billion AI hedge fund — and lost most of it in days
Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher-turned-hedge fund manager, saw a dramatic decline this week in his AI-focused fund, Situational Awareness.
Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher, built a $45 billion AI hedge fund named Situational Awareness. His fund peaked at peak at $45 billion in assets earlier this month. However, within days, the fund's holdings dropped to around $10 billion after Aschenbrenner was forced to offload leveraged stock bets to Citadel. This sudden decline has made him the most high-profile casualty of the AI boom's volatility.
Critics argue that Aschenbrenner, who had no prior hedge fund experience, was more fortunate than skilled. His fund's early gains of over 1,000% since inception raised eyebrows, but his use of up to 400% leverage has raised concerns.
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