Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness is active in options market, sources say
Situational Awareness has been buying options positions in stocks including Advanced Micro Devices, Bloom Energy and Coreweave, sources told CNBC's David Faber.
Leopold Aschenbrenner, the AI specialist whose hedge fund nearly imploded during the summer, has resurfaced in the market by taking new options positions.
Options Activity
Sources speaking to CNBC’s David Faber reported that Aschenbrenner’s vehicle, Situational Awareness, has been purchasing options on a slate of technology names. The firm added contracts on Advanced Micro Devices, Bloom Energy and Coreweave during the latter part of last week and the early days of this week. Additional activity was noted in options for SK Hynix and SanDisk, and the manager also secured options on the Roundhill Memory ETF, which trades under the ticker DRAM.
Fund Decline
The renewed trading comes after Situational Awareness saw its asset base shrink dramatically. The fund’s value fell to roughly $10 billion after peaking at more than $45 billion at the start of July. A swift tumble in AI‑related equities that Aschenbrenner had bought on leverage forced the firm to liquidate its public stock holdings. Those positions were sold in a fire‑sale to Ken Griffin’s Citadel in an effort to prevent a total collapse.
Remaining Stakes
Even after the public‑equity sell‑off, the hedge fund retained ownership stakes in private ventures, most notably the AI startup Anthropic. Those private holdings survived the July rout and remain part of the firm’s portfolio.
Funding Unclear
Sources said it is not known whether Aschenbrenner is drawing fresh capital to finance the latest options bets or is relying on cash that survived the July sell‑down and the Citadel transaction. No confirmation has been provided about new investor commitments.
The reappearance of Situational Awareness in the options market signals that Aschenbrenner is testing the waters again after a period of severe stress. While the specific strategy behind the new contracts has not been disclosed, the selection of semiconductor and AI‑adjacent names suggests a continued focus on the technology sector that once drove the fund’s rapid expansion. Observers will be watching to see if the firm can rebuild its capital base and whether the latest positions will generate enough upside to offset the losses incurred during the summer’s market swing.
Source: CNBC · 2026-09-11