A hedge fund founded by the prominent Wall Street newcomer Leopold Aschenbrenner, known as one of the most knowledgeable fund managers regarding the AI industry chain, has recently made a significant bet on a decline in the AI chip sector, drawing market attention. According to regulatory filings, the fund has established substantial short positions targeting NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and several other AI chip-related stocks. Reports indicate that the latest 13F filing from Situational Awareness shows the fund holds approximately $1.56 billion in NVIDIA put options, alongside establishing over $2 billion in bearish positions related to the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMHV.US). Additionally, the fund has disclosed significant short positions in Broadcom (AVGO.US), Oracle (ORCL.US), AMD (AMD.US), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM.US), ASML (ASML.US), and Intel (INTC.US). Leopold Aschenbrenner previously worked on AI alignment research at OpenAI and gained widespread attention for his 2024 AI paper titled "Situational Awareness," which discusses the development path and potential risks of artificial intelligence. This large-scale shorting of the AI chip sector reflects growing skepticism among some investors regarding the sustainability of the AI-driven market rally. Previously, the "Big Short" investor Michael Burry also disclosed a short position in NVIDIA, while the well-known short-selling firm Culper Research recently issued a negative report on risks associated with NVIDIA's business in China. However, Situational Awareness is not entirely bearish on the technology industry. The filings also reveal that the fund holds long positions in several AI and energy-related companies, including CoreWeave (CRWV.US), SanDisk (SNDK.US), CleanSpark (CLSK.US), and Bloom Energy (BE.US).
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