Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI hedge fund, Situational Awareness, has returned with a $400M bet just weeks after losing roughly two-thirds of its value in July. The fund, originally backed by ~$225M from investors including the Collison brothers, had grown to over $20B in assets through leveraged bets on AI infrastructure stocks like CoreWeave, SK Hynix, and Bloom Energy — achieving a reported 439% return. Heavy four-to-one leverage turned a market correction into a catastrophic margin call, forcing a near-total liquidation reportedly sold to Citadel Advisors. The collapse is being cited in broader debates about AI stock valuations, dot-com bubble comparisons, and systemic credit risks flagged by the BIS. Aschenbrenner's rapid return signals continued conviction in his AI infrastructure thesis, though critics question whether risk management lessons have been absorbed.
