Situational Awareness LP, a major artificial intelligence hedge fund launched by a former OpenAI researcher, liquidated its entire public stock portfolio in a margin-fueled fire sale following heavy losses. The massive equity holding was sold to Ken Griffin’s investment firm Citadel on or around July 30, 2026.
What began as a high-flying bet on the infrastructure powering the artificial intelligence boom has collided with harsh market realities. Situational Awareness, a fund that captured intense industry attention after launching in late 2024, found itself forced into an emergency wind-down of its public equities after a sharp investor backlash against AI and software stocks took a severe toll on its balance sheet.
From Massive Gains to a Margin-Fueled Fire Sale
The trajectory of the fund illustrates the extreme volatility inherent in concentrated technology bets. Those explosive returns fueled rapid asset growth, pushing the firm from roughly $225 million in assets at launch to somewhere between $20 billion and $24 billion by mid-2026.
Backers of the fund included high-profile names such as Patrick and John Collison, the brothers behind Stripe, alongside quantitative trading giant Jane Street. But running leverage reportedly as high as 4x left the fund vulnerable when public markets turned.
Inside the Liquidated Portfolio: AI Proxies and Bitcoin Miners
The fund’s strategy centered heavily on AI infrastructure and data-center proxies. Its public investments included South Korean chip maker SK Hynix, which had been stung by the broader investor pullback in the sector. The portfolio also held positions in Bloom Energy, a fuel cell and energy company that captured investor interest as a bet on the staggering power demands of modern data centers.
Uniquely for a tech-focused fund, the holdings also featured Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, two of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miners. These crossover holdings highlight how digital asset equities have increasingly functioned as AI infrastructure plays rather than pure cryptocurrency assets. When crossover funds face severe margin pressure from broader tech portfolios, the resulting liquidation hits miner stocks regardless of underlying Bitcoin price action.
A Pivot to Private Markets and What Comes Next
Despite unloading its entire public equities book to a single buyer, the fund is not disappearing entirely. Situational Awareness is seeking to raise new capital and market its private positions, including a prized stake in Anthropic that was acquired at a valuation near $60 billion. Unlike public stocks, private market holdings cannot be margin-called into oblivion during a rough trading session.
The fund was founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former member of OpenAI’s Superalignment team who departed in 2024 and named the firm after his influential essay series on artificial intelligence progress. By retaining its Anthropic stake while purging its public book, the firm is effectively transforming from a leveraged public markets fund into a concentrated venture and growth equity vehicle. Observers and market participants will be watching closely to see if private market valuations can hold firm as the fund markets its remaining assets to new investors.
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