Former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner’s investment fund boosted its disclosed equity holdings to $13.67 billion and established a massive bearish position against semiconductor firms, a 13F filing from May 18 shows.
The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission details a strategy that is long on AI infrastructure and short on popular chipmakers.
The fund's largest new positions include bitcoin miners Iren (IREN) and Core Scientific (CORZ), alongside energy infrastructure firm Bloom Energy (BE). Simultaneously, the fund disclosed $7.46 billion in put options against Nvidia (NVDA), Oracle (ORCL), Broadcom (AVGO), and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF.
The strategy represents a significant bet on the underlying power and data infrastructure for artificial intelligence, suggesting a view that semiconductor valuations have become stretched. The move could lead investors to reconsider the distribution of capital within the AI value chain.
Aschenbrenner’s fund, Situational Awareness LP, more than doubled its disclosed equity exposure from $5.5 billion at the end of 2025. The portfolio’s long positions are heavily concentrated in companies that provide power, data centers, and compute capacity. This includes significant stakes in bitcoin miners such as Riot Platforms (RIOT), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Bitdeer (BTDR), firms that are increasingly leveraging their energy infrastructure for high-performance computing workloads.
The most striking part of the filing is the scale of the bearish wagers against the semiconductor sector. The fund purchased a $2.04 billion put option against the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), a $1.57 billion put against Nvidia, and puts worth over $1 billion each on Oracle and Broadcom. This indicates a strong conviction that the market leaders in the AI chip boom are due for a correction.
This investment thesis pivots away from the chip designers that have dominated AI-related headlines and instead focuses on the less glamorous but critical infrastructure layer. By investing in energy producers like Bloom Energy and data center providers like CoreWeave (CRWV), Aschenbrenner is betting on the "picks and shovels" needed to power the ongoing AI expansion. The fund's position in Bloom Energy has been a notable success, with the stock rising nearly 180% year-to-date in 2026.
This large-scale strategic rotation signals a belief that the market has overvalued chipmakers relative to the physical infrastructure required to run AI models. Investors will be closely watching the performance of these positions and the fund's next quarterly filing for any changes to this high-conviction thesis.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
