Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness LP, has rapidly become one of the most closely watched investment vehicles in the artificial intelligence sector. In just six quarters, the fund has grown from a relatively modest $255 million portfolio to a staggering $13.7 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing AI-focused investment funds in recent years.

The latest Q1 2026 filing reveals a dramatic shift in positioning, including a massive new options strategy targeting semiconductor stocks while simultaneously increasing exposure to AI infrastructure, power generation, and Bitcoin mining companies.

The Rise of Situational Awareness LP

Aschenbrenner first gained widespread attention in 2024 after publishing Situational Awareness, a widely discussed essay arguing that artificial general intelligence (AGI) would arrive much sooner than most investors expected.

His central thesis was straightforward: the greatest bottleneck to AI development would not be software, but physical infrastructure. Compute power, energy generation, data centers, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing would become the defining investment opportunities of the decade.

Shortly after publishing the essay, Aschenbrenner launched Situational Awareness LP to capitalize on that vision.

Since then, the fund has experienced extraordinary growth:

• Q4 2024: $255 million
• Q1 2025: Over $1 billion
• Q4 2025: More than $5 billion
• Q1 2026: $13.7 billion

The latest filing marks the largest quarterly increase in the fund’s history.

The Most Surprising Development: An $8.5 Billion Options Position

While the fund’s core equity portfolio remained relatively stable, the biggest surprise came from the introduction of an enormous put-option portfolio worth approximately $8.5 billion in notional exposure.

Prior filings showed almost no meaningful downside hedging activity. The only notable put position before this quarter was a modest $9 million exposure to Infosys.

That changed dramatically in Q1 2026.

The fund’s largest positions now include puts on several major AI and semiconductor names:

• VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH): $2.04 billion put position
• Nvidia (NVDA): $1.57 billion put position
• Oracle (ORCL): Approximately $1 billion put position
• Broadcom (AVGO): Significant put exposure
• AMD (AMD): Major put position
• Micron (MU): Complex options structure
• ASML: New bearish exposure

The scale of these positions immediately sparked speculation that Aschenbrenner may be preparing for a correction across the AI semiconductor sector.

Is Aschenbrenner Turning Bearish on AI?

At first glance, the options portfolio appears strongly bearish.

In many cases, the put exposure is substantially larger than any corresponding long position. Several positions have virtually no offsetting stock ownership, leading some investors to conclude that the fund expects a downturn in AI-related equities.

However, the reality may be more nuanced.

13F filings disclose notional exposure but do not reveal critical details such as:

• Option strike prices
• Expiration dates
• Whether puts were bought or sold
• Multi-leg hedging strategies
• Volatility-based structures

Without those details, investors cannot definitively determine whether the positions represent outright bearish bets or sophisticated risk-management strategies.

Certain holdings suggest the latter.

Both Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) and Micron feature combinations of puts, calls, and stock ownership that resemble volatility trades rather than directional bets.

While caution toward AI semiconductor valuations appears evident, the filing does not provide enough information to confirm a broad bearish view.

Intel Signals a Major Change in Conviction

One position that clearly stands out is Intel.

Just one quarter earlier, Situational Awareness held a bullish call position worth approximately $747 million tied to more than 20 million Intel shares.

In Q1 2026, that position was largely reversed.

The fund now holds:

• A $159 million put position
• A residual stake of approximately 202,000 shares

This represents one of the clearest directional shifts in the filing and suggests a meaningful reassessment of Intel’s role within the broader AI infrastructure landscape.

The Bullish AI Infrastructure Thesis Remains Intact

Despite the attention surrounding the put options, the filing also shows strong conviction in the long-term AI infrastructure story.

The largest bullish positions continue to focus on sectors directly tied to compute and energy demand.

Among the fund’s largest equity holdings are:

• Bloom Energy
• CoreWeave
• SanDisk
• Core Scientific
• IREN
• Applied Digital

Each company plays a role in supporting AI workloads through energy production, data center infrastructure, storage solutions, or high-performance computing environments.

These positions reinforce Aschenbrenner’s original thesis that the AI boom will require enormous investments in physical infrastructure.

Bitcoin Miners Become a Major Focus

One of the most notable developments in the filing is the aggressive increase in Bitcoin mining exposure.

The fund significantly expanded positions across several miners:

• CleanSpark increased approximately sevenfold
• Bitfarms nearly tripled
• Riot Platforms almost doubled
• Bitdeer saw substantial additions

The pattern suggests growing confidence that Bitcoin miners could evolve into broader AI infrastructure providers.

Many mining companies already possess critical assets highly valued by AI developers:

• Access to large-scale power capacity
• Existing data center facilities
• Land and infrastructure
• High-performance computing expertise

As demand for AI compute continues to surge, these companies may increasingly participate in data center and AI hosting markets alongside traditional mining operations.

New Investments Support the Same Theme

The fund also initiated several new positions aligned with the AI infrastructure narrative:

T1 Energy

A U.S.-based solar and battery infrastructure company positioned to benefit from rising electricity demand driven by AI data centers.

SharonAI

A neocloud provider focused on delivering AI computing resources.

HIVE Digital

A cryptocurrency mining and data center operator increasingly expanding into AI-related services.

While relatively small compared to the fund’s largest holdings, all three investments reinforce the broader focus on energy, compute, and infrastructure.

What Investors Should Watch Next

The most important question emerging from the filing is whether the massive semiconductor put positions represent temporary hedges or the beginning of a larger strategic shift.

At the same time, the continued expansion into energy infrastructure, AI data centers, and Bitcoin miners suggests that Aschenbrenner remains deeply committed to the long-term AI buildout thesis.

For investors, the clearest takeaway is that Situational Awareness continues to bet aggressively on the infrastructure required to power the AI revolution. However, the fund is simultaneously showing increased caution toward the semiconductor sector that has led the rally over the past several years.

The next major clue will arrive with the fund’s next 13F filing in August. That report will reveal whether the semiconductor options exposure expands further, is reduced, or rotates into new opportunities.

Until then, Aschenbrenner’s message appears clear: the AI infrastructure story remains alive and well—but the path forward may become far more selective than the broad-based semiconductor rally that defined the early stages of the AI boom.