SALP's Leverage-Fueled Rise and Fall Leaves Investors Reeling

Situation Awareness LP (SALP) was launched in 2024 by Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher who became known for his work in AI-obsessive circles.

The fund grew rapidly from $225 million in seed capital to over $20 billion in assets under management, with returns topping 1,000% since inception. At its peak, SALP's assets neared $45 billion.

SALP concentrated bets on an AI supercycle, holding public equities like Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, as well as Bloom Energy and semiconductor-adjacent names like SK Hynix.

By May 2026, the fund had posted a year-to-date return of approximately 270%, with net returns reaching 439% for the first half of that year. Backers included notable investors such as the Collison brothers, Daniel Gross, Nat Friedman, and Jane Street.

SALP also applied leverage up to 4x to amplify its concentrated positions, but this proved disastrous when AI stocks hit a rough patch in late July 2026. The fund's margin pressure led to an emergency liquidation of its entire public equity portfolio, sold to a single buyer.