#AI #HedgeFunds #Markets ☠️
📉 Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI fund imploded - and Citadel bought the unwind
Leopold Aschenbrenner - former OpenAI safety researcher and author of the AGI "Situational Awareness" manifesto - launched the fund in late 2024 with ~$225M. At peak, AUM reached $20-45B. Through end of June 2026: +439% after fees. One of the strongest short-term records in hedge fund history.
🟢 The collapse: three banks, one block trade, 72 hours
Three prime brokers - Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and BofA - issued margin calls. The entire public book went to Citadel in a single block trade.
July 28: Citadel publicly forecasts a Fed rate hike
July 29: Markets sell off - fund receives margin calls from all three primes
July 30: Fed holds rates unchanged - Citadel takes the full portfolio
Same day: Nebius, Bloom Energy, SanDisk up 15-29%
The fund's largest remaining asset is its Anthropic stake, which was not included in the transaction. Situational Awareness LP will continue operating as a private investment vehicle with roughly $5B in Anthropic. Rumors of an a16z hire are circulating; no primary source has confirmed.
🟢 KOSPI: the worst month in exchange history
The AI selloff erased roughly 40% from Korea's market peak, wiping out an estimated $2.18 trillion in market value. Reports indicate that more than a million leveraged retail investors came under severe margin pressure as the downturn accelerated
🤔 This is not the end of the AI cycle. It's the end of its most aggressive phase. When capital was cheap, markets rewarded maximum concentration and leverage.
The regime shifted - and now they're rewarding liquidity, discipline, and the capacity to survive drawdowns. That distinction may matter more for what comes next than any single model release.
➡️Crouton.digital | About us⬅️
📉 Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI fund imploded - and Citadel bought the unwind
On July 30, Situational Awareness LP sold most of its public equity portfolio - longs and shorts - in a single block trade. The buyer: Ken Griffin's Citadel. Hours after the deal closed, the former fund's positions were up 15-29%.
Leopold Aschenbrenner - former OpenAI safety researcher and author of the AGI "Situational Awareness" manifesto - launched the fund in late 2024 with ~$225M. At peak, AUM reached $20-45B. Through end of June 2026: +439% after fees. One of the strongest short-term records in hedge fund history.
🟢 The collapse: three banks, one block trade, 72 hours
Three prime brokers - Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and BofA - issued margin calls. The entire public book went to Citadel in a single block trade.
July 28: Citadel publicly forecasts a Fed rate hike
July 29: Markets sell off - fund receives margin calls from all three primes
July 30: Fed holds rates unchanged - Citadel takes the full portfolio
Same day: Nebius, Bloom Energy, SanDisk up 15-29%
The fund's largest remaining asset is its Anthropic stake, which was not included in the transaction. Situational Awareness LP will continue operating as a private investment vehicle with roughly $5B in Anthropic. Rumors of an a16z hire are circulating; no primary source has confirmed.
🟢 KOSPI: the worst month in exchange history
The AI selloff erased roughly 40% from Korea's market peak, wiping out an estimated $2.18 trillion in market value. Reports indicate that more than a million leveraged retail investors came under severe margin pressure as the downturn accelerated
🤔 This is not the end of the AI cycle. It's the end of its most aggressive phase. When capital was cheap, markets rewarded maximum concentration and leverage.
The regime shifted - and now they're rewarding liquidity, discipline, and the capacity to survive drawdowns. That distinction may matter more for what comes next than any single model release.
➡️Crouton.digital | About us⬅️