SEC Investigates Situational Awareness, the AI Hedge Fund That Nearly Collapsed

The U.S. stock market regulator has sent subpoenas to the banks that oversaw the operations of the fund founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, after losses of billions at the end of July.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is now looking into Situational Awareness, the hedge fund specializing in artificial intelligence stocks led by Leopold Aschenbrenner, formerly of OpenAI still in his twenties. The regulator issued subpoenas to the banking institutions that oversaw the fund's market operations and provided it with its financing, asking them to keep all related documents.

The trigger dates back to the end of July 2026: the reversal in AI-related stocks wiped out several billion dollars from the value of the portfolio, abruptly ending a rise that had made the fund one of the most commented on Wall Street signatures. The investigation, made public on August 24, is at this stage focusing on the role of banks, and no charges have been made against the fund itself.

When asked, the company said it would fully cooperate with any request from a regulator. The case illustrates the nervousness surrounding financial exposure to AI assets after several months of stretched valuations.