Situational Awareness sheds public stocks while preserving Anthropic investment

Situational Awareness, a hedge fund launched by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, has offloaded the bulk of its public equity holdings to Citadel as the fund grappled with mounting losses triggered by a sector-wide downturn in AI infrastructure investing. The fund had ascended rapidly to manage $45 billion in assets and generate 439% annualized returns through mid-2026. However, forced asset sales combined with leveraged positions amplified losses, shrinking total assets to around $10 billion and prompting the Citadel transaction. Aschenbrenner established the fund in 2024 despite lacking market trading experience. In late July, he sought to rally investor confidence by requesting fresh capital commitments beginning August, yet the overture failed to attract sufficient new funds. The fund maintained its private equity holdings, including a $5 billion position in Anthropic that investors view as appreciating. With Anthropic approaching an anticipated October public listing, stakeholders anticipate this stake could recover some public market losses.