Situational Awareness invested $400 million into chip startup Source Foundry this week, bringing its total stake to $500 million. The fund, founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner in 2024, made the move despite recently selling most of its public portfolio to Ken Griffin’s Citadel. Assets under management reportedly fell from $20 billion to $10 billion as AI infrastructure stocks declined. Source Foundry aims to make chip manufacturing faster and cheaper through technology developed by Stanford researchers. Aschenbrenner retained his position in Anthropic shares while the fund faced steep losses in recent months. The investment signals a continued focus on hardware infrastructure even as public markets correct.
This capital injection matters because it targets the physical bottlenecks limiting artificial intelligence growth. Source Foundry’s approach to manufacturing could lower costs and increase speed for future AI models. The hedge fund’s strategy shows a preference for private infrastructure over public equities during market downturns. This shift reflects a belief that hardware capabilities remain critical regardless of stock market performance.
* Total investment in Source Foundry reaches $500 million
* Fund retained Anthropic shares after selling public portfolio
* Aschenbrenner launched the firm with no prior trading experience
