According to media reports, fund founder Leopold Aschenbrenner has begun rebuilding large-scale trading positions in technology stocks such as AMD (AMD), Intel (INTC), SK Hynix (SKHY), SanDisk (SNDK), and AI startup CoreWeave (CRWV). Because his previous broker relationships had almost entirely broken down, he has turned to working with the little-known specialist broker Clear Street as a way to re-enter the market. The move has drawn intense attention because his trading approach is highly similar to the operations that led to massive losses in July of this year.
Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott had previously captured unusual signals. He pointed out that last Friday and Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday, a series of large-scale flexible call option trades appeared in the market, concentrated in multiple AI- and semiconductor-related stocks. The “mysterious buyer” spent a total of $315 million in option premiums, involving $1.1 billion in Delta exposure and $5.8 million in Vega exposure. This linked pattern of “spot rising and volatility also rising” is exactly the same as the market characteristics before the turmoil in July of this year.
People familiar with the matter revealed that the new positions recently established by Situational Awareness were all completed through flexible options, with underlying assets covering the core holdings that had previously been liquidated. McElligott listed the specific transactions: in AMD, 5,000 call options expiring in January 2026 with a strike price of $540.01 were traded on Friday, with total premiums of $18.7 million; on Tuesday, another 3,700 contracts with a strike price of $580.01 were bought, with premiums of $17.5 million. For clean energy company Bloom Energy, total premium spending over two trading days was about $48.2 million, and the stock rose 17.5% cumulatively over the two days. CoreWeave rose 18% cumulatively over the two days, with corresponding option premiums totaling more than $43 million. In addition, similar large purchases of deep out-of-the-money call options also appeared in SK Hynix, SanDisk, DRAM-related underlying assets, and Intel.
Situational Awareness had previously gained great fame during the AI boom, and Aschenbrenner also rose to become one of the most closely watched technology investors in the industry. However, the sharp correction in the AI sector this summer caused the fund to lose as much as tens of billions of dollars, ultimately forcing it to significantly reduce leverage and sell off a large number of holdings. To survive the crisis, the fund sold most of its public market positions to Citadel. Although this allowed the fund to continue operating, it also marked the phased end of its previous aggressive strategy. In a letter to investors at the end of July, Aschenbrenner said he would “find another day to fight again” and promised to “learn the necessary lessons,” while public market investments would be “managed on a fully paid basis.”
