At 23, former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner has quickly become one of the most talked-about names in finance. Last year, with no professional investing background, he launched Situational Awareness in San Francisco after publishing a lengthy essay on artificial superintelligence that caught the attention of the tech and investment community. In less than a year, the hedge fund has taken in over $1.5 billion, positioning itself as what Aschenbrenner calls a “brain trust on AI.”
The firm invests in companies set to benefit from AI adoption, from chipmakers and infrastructure providers to power suppliers, and has also backed startups such as Anthropic. Its performance in the first half of 2025 was remarkable, with returns of 47%, compared with a 6% gain for the S&P 500.
Situational Awareness is part of a broader rush into AI-focused investing. In March, former quants Ben Hoskin and David Field launched Value Aligned Research Advisors in Princeton, New Jersey, which now manages $1 billion. Larger players are also entering the space, including Steve Cohen’s Point72, which has backed Turion, an AI fund that has grown to over $2 billion in assets since launching last year. Many of these funds are making similar bets, with Vistra, a major electricity supplier to AI data centers, showing up as a top holding for several of them.
If current trends continue, funds like Aschenbrenner’s could play a central role in shaping the next chapter of thematic investing. For now, backers believe the AI boom is still in its early innings, with plenty of room for growth ahead.
Written by: Neha Venna
