Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness faced acute pressure in late July 2026 after sharp losses in leveraged semiconductor and tech holdings triggered margin calls, prompting a fire sale of most of its roughly $16 billion public equity portfolio to Citadel. Assets under management fell from peaks near $20–45 billion to around $10 billion, shifting focus to stabilization rather than expansion. While the firm held investor discussions about fresh capital and later deployed $400 million into private chip-manufacturing startup Source Foundry, credible reporting shows no confirmed inflows of outside investor money by the August 31 deadline. These events, combined with the fund’s thin operational structure and recent drawdowns, have shaped trader sentiment toward low implied probability of a qualifying raise.