13F Tracker | Before the Unwind: Situational Awareness's Q2 Filing Reveals Peak AI Concentration

Situational Awareness LP, the AI-focused hedge fund founded and managed by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, submitted its Q2 2026 13F filing to the SEC on August 14. The document provides a detailed snapshot of the fund's highly concentrated US equity portfolio as of June 30—just weeks before it faced a severe forced liquidation amid market turbulence in July.

Fund Strategy & Rapid Growth

Aschenbrenner built the fund on a high-conviction thesis: the global AI buildout would drive durable demand for physical infrastructure, such as memory chips, data centers, and power generation, while potentially challenging legacy software business models.

The strategy generated substantial initial gains, delivering a reported +439% net return through Q2 2026 and driving the fund's growth from $225 million at inception to a reported peak of roughly $45 billion in assets under management (AUM). However, these returns were significantly amplified by leverage, which market estimates suggest may have reached up to 400%.

Q2 Portfolio & AI Concentration

Symbols

As of June 30, the fund's disclosed US equity portfolio was valued at approximately $20.2 billion, an increase of roughly 48% from $13.7 billion in Q1. The portfolio demonstrated extreme concentration, with the top two positions alone making up over 55% of the disclosed assets:

– $SanDisk (SNDK.US)$ : 2.495 million shares, valued at roughly $5.67 billion, accounting for 28.03% of the disclosed portfolio. This position had approximately doubled since Q1.

– $Micron Technology (MU.US)$ : 4.829 million shares, valued at approximately $5.57 billion (27.54%). This represented a massive expansion from just around 17,400 shares in Q1.

Overall, the fund's top five holdings accounted for 77.3% of the portfolio, and the top ten comprised nearly 92%. Notable positions included $NEBIUS (NBIS.US)$ (a newly initiated position in the vertically integrated AI cloud space) and roughly $4 billion allocated across AI data center infrastructure names such as $CoreWeave (CRWV.US)$ , $Core Scientific (CORZ.US)$ , $Applied Digital (APLD.US)$ , and $IREN Ltd (IREN.US)$ .

Undisclosed Exposures & Private Stakes

It is important to note that 13F filings offer an incomplete picture of a fund's total risk exposure. The filing excludes the fund's short equity book, international holdings (such as its SK Hynix position listed in South Korea), and private market stakes.

Notably, the fund holds a significant private investment in Anthropic, acquired during its $65 billion Series H round in May 2026. Furthermore, previous filings indicated substantial options notional value across the semiconductor complex. Since 13Fs do not specify whether options are long or short, the directional intent of these overlays remains undisclosed.

July Reversal & Forced Liquidation

The June 30 snapshot precedes the significant market shift in July, during which both sides of the fund's book reportedly moved against it. Key long positions in AI hardware—including SanDisk, Micron, and Nebius—experienced steep declines. Concurrently, targeted software short positions, such as $Adobe (ADBE.US)$ , rallied.

This dual pressure, compounded by high leverage, triggered margin calls. The fund's net return dropped by approximately 67% in July. Combined with client redemptions and forced deleveraging, this drawdown shrank its AUM precipitously from a peak of roughly $45 billion to an estimated $10 billion. Major prime brokers—including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup—stepped in to facilitate an orderly wind-down, with Citadel acquiring a substantial portion of the public equity portfolio.

Current Status & Market Implications

Despite the severe July drawdown, market estimates suggest Aschenbrenner’s fund remains up approximately 78–80% year-to-date. However, the fund sustained structural damage. It is currently reported to be marketing its private Anthropic stakes to prospective buyers to manage liquidity.

The Situational Awareness episode highlights several broader market dynamics:

– Leverage Risks: The event underscores how high leverage in a concentrated strategy can leave minimal buffer during sudden market reversals, even if the underlying long-term thesis remains coherent.

– Sector Spillover: The forced liquidation of widely tracked AI infrastructure names likely accelerated the broader sector sell-off in July, affecting market participants without direct exposure to the fund.

– Limitations of 13F Tracking: Relying solely on 13F filings to gauge a manager's conviction can be misleading, as these documents omit short exposures, derivatives directionality, and private assets that define the actual risk profile.

Should the fund submit a Q3 13F for the period ending September 30, it would be the first regulatory filing to formally capture the July liquidation, likely reflecting a largely liquidated public equity portfolio. Until then, the August 14 document remains the definitive public record of the fund's peak positioning.

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