Overview
- The latest development is that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed banks that provided leverage and trading services to Situational Awareness, and the inquiry is described as early stage with no accusation of wrongdoing.
- Situational Awareness was founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner and grew to manage more than $30 billion while borrowing tens of billions to amplify concentrated bets on AI-related companies.
- A sharp selloff in AI and chip stocks in July triggered margin calls that wiped roughly two thirds of the fund’s publicly marked portfolio and forced the sale of most public equities.
- Citadel purchased the distressed public book in a negotiated block and then executed almost 100 block trades to shed more than 80% of the risk it acquired, while Situational Awareness de-levered and kept large private stakes such as a position in Anthropic.
- The subpoenas put a spotlight on prime brokers and leverage practices and could affect how banks underwrite big thematic funds, with recovery for investors now tied to private liquidity events and any future regulatory findings.