Situational Awareness, the hedge fund founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, has grown to exceed $20 billion in assets under management, according to a report Monday. The firm's rise has pushed its scale toward that of some well-known activist and event-driven managers.
The fund's performance has been extraordinary. Through May of this year, Situational Awareness has delivered about 270% returns after fees, and since its launch less than two years ago with initial capital of a few hundred million dollars, it is reported to be up more than 1,000% after fees.
A sizable portion of the firm's portfolio is concentrated in a single position. One of its most successful holdings is a stake in Anthropic that now accounts for roughly one-fifth of the fund's assets. The initial investment in Anthropic was made in February 2025 at a valuation slightly above $60 billion. In its most recent share sale, Anthropic's valuation was reported at $965 billion.
Investor interest in Situational Awareness has broadened. Jane Street, the quantitative trading firm, is now listed among the fund's backers. That allocation is notable because Jane Street rarely places capital with outside managers.
Situational Awareness's moves in equity stakes have had visible market effects. In May, when the fund disclosed a stake in T1 Energy, shares of the solar manufacturer jumped 23% in a single trading day, and the stock recorded its second-highest trading volume on record.
Leopold Aschenbrenner, 24, is originally from Germany and graduated as the valedictorian of Columbia University's class of 2021. Before founding Situational Awareness, he worked briefly as a researcher at OpenAI. At the time he started the fund, he had no prior professional investing experience.
Aschenbrenner first gained wider recognition with a 2024 essay titled "Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead." The 165-page paper outlined a trajectory for AI development by quantifying expected annual advances in computing power, algorithmic efficiency and model improvements. The essay was circulated online by a number of public figures.
Contextual note: The fund's rapid ascent in assets and performance figures reflect concentrated exposure to AI-related investments and notable single-stock moves driven by its reported stakes.