The 24-Year-Old "AI Oracle's" Latest Bets — 60% of Portfolio Hedging Semiconductor Downside
Situational Awareness LP (Leopold Aschenbrenner) — Q1 2026 13F Analysis
Executive Summary
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AUM surged 148% QoQ to $13.7B notional, driven by massive options overlay expansion.
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~60% of notional exposure now hedges AI semiconductor downside via broad-based PUTs (SMH, NVDA, AVGO, AMD, ORCL).
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Core long thesis intact: Heavy conviction remains in AI infrastructure (power, data centers, GPU cloud) via common stock positions in CRWV, BE, SNDK.
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Key signal: Even the most vocal AGI bull is now buying crash insurance on the chip trade — a critical sentiment shift for momentum investors.
Fund Snapshot
|
Metric |
Q1 2026 |
Q4 2025 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Notional Holdings |
$13.7B |
$5.52B |
+148% |
|
Total Positions |
46+ (incl. options) |
~30 |
Expanded |
|
New Purchases |
23 |
— |
Aggressive rotation |
|
Sold Out |
10 |
— |
Risk reduction |
|
Top Theme |
AI Infrastructure (Power/Cloud) |
AI Semis |
Pivot to bottlenecks |
Q1 2026 Portfolio Moves
🔴 NEW HEDGES: The "Crash Insurance" Layer
Strategy: Systematic downside protection across the AI hardware complex. These are notional-heavy PUT positions.
|
Ticker |
Type |
Weight |
Notional Value |
Signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
PUT |
14.94% |
~$2.04B |
Sector-wide hedge |
|
|
PUT |
11.47% |
~$1.56B |
Top single-name risk |
|
|
PUT |
7.84% |
~$1.07B |
Cloud/DB downside |
|
|
PUT |
7.36% |
~$1.01B |
Custom silicon risk |
|
|
PUT |
7.09% |
~$970M |
GPU competition hedge |
|
|
$Micron Technology(MU)$ / $Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing(TSM)$ / $ASML Holding NV(ASML)$ / $Intel(INTC)$ |
PUT |
~12% |
~$1.6B+ |
Memory & fab exposure |
Total AI Hardware Hedge: ~60% of portfolio notional
Options Nuance: The fund also holds CALLs on MU & TSM alongside PUTs (e.g., MU CALL 3.09% + MU PUT 4.27%). This is a long-gamma / two-way volatility play — not outright bearish, but positioning for violent moves in either direction.
🟢 CORE LONGS: The "Infrastructure" Thesis
Strategy: Common stock only. No leverage. These are the conviction holds Aschenbrenner believes will outlast any chip-cycle volatility.
|
Ticker |
Action |
Q1 Weight |
Thesis |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Added (+85K sh) |
5.30% |
Memory/storage; data center demand |
|
|
Added (+1.07M sh) |
4.07% |
GPU cloud / AI compute leasing |
|
|
Reduced (-3.59M sh) |
6.42% |
On-site power / fuel cells for AI data centers |
|
|
$Keel Infrastructure Corp(KEEL)$ / $IREN Ltd(IREN)$ / $APPLIED DIGITAL CORP(APLD)$ / $Riot Platforms(RIOT)$ / $CleanSpark, Inc.(CLSK)$ / $Bitdeer Technologies Group(BTDR)$ |
Added |
<3% each |
Power & compute infrastructure |
Investor Angle: Aschenbrenner is betting that energy and data center buildouts — not GPU supply — will be the real bottleneck of the AI era.
🟡 EXITS: Unwinding Leverage & Optical Comms
|
Ticker |
Previous Weight |
Action |
Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
|
INTC CALL |
13%+ |
Sold Out |
Massive deleveraging; converted to tiny common stock (0.07%) |
|
LITE |
8.68% |
Sold Out |
Optical communications exit |
|
COHR |
1.61% |
Sold Out |
Optical components |
|
CIFR / HUT |
2.80% / 0.72% |
Sold Out |
Crypto miner exposure cut |
|
CRWV CALL |
14.04% |
Reduced to 1.03% |
De-risking; rolled into common stock |
|
CORZ |
7.59% |
Reduced to 2.84% |
Crypto miner trim |
The Investment Thesis: "Two-Track" Positioning
Aschenbrenner’s Q1 moves reveal a barbell strategy that appears contradictory on the surface but is coherent at the structural level:
|
Track |
Expression |
Conviction Level |
|---|---|---|
|
Short-Term Chip Risk |
Massive PUT overlay on SMH, NVDA, AVGO |
High conviction that valuation/multiple compression is likely near-term |
|
Long-Term Infra Demand |
Common stock in power, data centers, GPU cloud (CRWV, BE, SNDK) |
High conviction that physical infrastructure is the next scarcity play |
Translation for Investors: He is not bearish on AI. He is bearish on AI hardware multiples while remaining bullish on AI physical infrastructure. The "picks and shovels" trade has moved downstream — from chip designers to power grids, transformers, and data center real estate.
Key Takeaways for SG & US Investors
🇸🇬 For Singapore Investors
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SG-listed proxies: Consider Singapore's data center REITs (e.g., Keppel DC REIT) and power/utility plays as indirect beneficiaries of the same "electricity is the new oil" thesis.
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USD hedge implication: A $13.7B fund buying massive downside protection on US tech suggests near-term volatility in Nasdaq-100 constituents. SG investors with heavy QQQ/NDX exposure should review hedges.
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Direct access: CRWV, BE, SNDK are available via most SG brokers with US market access. Note that CRWV is a higher-beta, pre-profitability name.
🇺🇸 For US Investors
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Options market signal: When a "true believer" AGI fund buys $6B+ in semiconductor PUTs, it validates the " crowded long" narrative in AI semis. This is a sentiment indicator, not necessarily a fundamental call.
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Pairs trade logic: Long infrastructure / Short semiconductor momentum is an emerging hedge fund theme for H2 2026.
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13F Limitation Reminder: This filing is 45 days stale (as of March 31). The fund may have already rolled or closed these options. Do not treat this as a real-time signal for copy-trading.
Bottom Line
The "AI Oracle" is no longer just preaching AGI — he is pricing in volatility.
Situational Awareness LP’s Q1 13F is a risk-management document disguised as a growth fund disclosure. For SG and US investors, the actionable read is this: the AI trade is bifurcating. The easy money in semis may be behind us, but the capital cycle in power, data centers, and compute leasing is just beginning.
Positioning implication: Consider reducing naked long exposure in NVDA/SMH at stretched multiples, and rotate toward AI infrastructure value chain names that benefit regardless of which chip vendor wins.
Source: Situational Awareness LP 13F Filing (Q1 2026, filed May 2026). Notional values reflect options contract math and may overstate economic exposure. Past filings do not indicate future performance.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

New positions include $TE, $HIVE, $SHAZ, $INTC, $AMD, $SMH, $TSM, $MU, $GLW, $ASML and$NVDA
Added to $KEEL, $CLSK, $RIOT, $IREN, $APLD, $BTDR, $CRWV and $SNDK.
Trimmed $SEI, $CORZ and $BE.