Two weeks ago, Leopold Aschenbrenner watched roughly $35 billion of investors' money disappear within days. His AI hedge fund, Situational Awareness, fell from a peak of $45 billion in early July to around $10 billion by late July after a massive crash in AI-focused stocks driven by leveraged bets through margin calls.
Despite the sharp decline, unnerved Aschenbrenner approached existing investors and lenders to raise fresh capital. The report said some investors have also been offered the opportunity to purchase assets directly from the fund's portfolio, though one person familiar with the discussions described the process as "ad-hoc" rather than a formal fundraising effort, the Financial Times reported.
