Insane story.
The TL;DR for those who don't know what happened:
Leopold Aschenbrenner (former OpenAI researcher who wrote the famous "Situational Awareness" essay) launched a hedge fund built entirely around the AI thesis.
Massive AI infrastructure buildout: chips, data centers, power - Leo bet big on AI being the future.
His fund went from $225 million to $20 billion in under two years. Up +439% through June 2026 alone.
Then July happened.
A sharp AI stock selloff hit his concentrated long positions hard, and the fund has now had to unwind the entire public equity portfolio, reportedly selling a large chunk directly to Citadel.
He's now going back to investors and lenders for fresh capital, and even offering some investors the option to buy portfolio assets directly.
He's probably right about the AI bet long-term but just wayyy too overlevered.
Every 3-6 months, stories like this pop up, and they're an excellent reminder to be EXTREMELY cautious with leverage...