Former OpenAI researcher’s hedge fund Situational Awareness was forced to liquidate all publicly traded stock holdings

According to CNBC, Situational Awareness, an AI-themed hedge fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, sold its entire publicly traded stock portfolio in a single transaction to another hedge fund before the market opened on Thursday, with the buyer undisclosed. The fund also sold a significant stake in Anthropic. The fund manages approximately $20 billion to $24 billion, and as of the end of June, it had a net return of 439%, making it one of the best-performing hedge funds this year.

According to insiders, this liquidation was due to significant losses in recent weeks. The fund had long positions in AI infrastructure and semiconductor stocks such as SK Hynix, Nvidia, Micron, and CoreWeave, most of which fell over 35% this month, while its short positions in software stocks like Adobe also experienced significant reverse volatility. According to its 13F filing submitted on March 31, about 62% of its $13.68 billion holdings were bearish options betting on declines in semiconductor and tech stocks. It is reported that major brokers such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are assisting the fund in meeting margin calls or orderly reducing positions, and Aschenbrenner has sought new capital from existing investors and lenders.