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Leopold Aschenbrenner was once dubbed the \u201cNostradamus of AI\u201d for a viral essay<\/a> predicting a wave of transformative artificial intelligence. But his hedge fund didn\u2019t see its own meltdown coming.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old former OpenAI researcher launched Situational Awareness in 2024 with $100 million from prominent tech investors, the New York Times<\/a> reported. Turns out the company wasn\u2019t as situationally aware of AI investment volatility. It poured money into AI-adjacent startups and data center companies, at one point quadrupling investor money and growing to roughly $30 billion.<\/p>\n Then AI stocks dropped sharply. Goldman Sachs, one of the fund\u2019s largest lenders, demanded repayment on its loans. Over the next 30 hours, Situational Awareness scrambled to sell roughly $20 billion in stock. Rival hedge fund Citadel agreed to buy much of it at a discount, in an early morning call between Aschenbrenner and founder Kenneth Griffin.<\/p>\n The fund survived, but with roughly $8 billion left, down from $30 billion at the start of July, a drop of more than 70 percent.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Leopold Aschenbrenner was once dubbed the \u201cNostradamus of AI\u201d for a viral essay<\/a> predicting a wave of transformative artificial intelligence. But his hedge fund didn\u2019t see its own meltdown coming.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old former OpenAI researcher launched Situational Awareness in 2024 with $100 million from prominent tech investors, the New York Times<\/a> reported. Turns out the company wasn\u2019t as situationally aware of AI investment volatility. It poured money into AI-adjacent startups and data center companies, at one point quadrupling investor money and growing to roughly $30 billion.<\/p>\n Then AI stocks dropped sharply. Goldman Sachs, one of the fund\u2019s largest lenders, demanded repayment on its loans. Over the next 30 hours, Situational Awareness scrambled to sell roughly $20 billion in stock. Rival hedge fund Citadel agreed to buy much of it at a discount, in an early morning call between Aschenbrenner and founder Kenneth Griffin.<\/p>\n The fund survived, but with roughly $8 billion left, down from $30 billion at the start of July, a drop of more than 70 percent.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n