When one of the hottest AI-focused hedge funds in the world loses 67% of its value in a single month, someone has to catch the falling knife. That someone was Citadel.
Ken Griffin’s firm acquired the majority of Situational Awareness’s leveraged public-stock portfolio, valued at up to $16 billion, in a deal that closed around July 30, 2026. The entire transaction took roughly 24 hours.
How Situational Awareness went from 439% returns to near-collapse
Situational Awareness was, until very recently, the kind of fund that made other hedge fund managers quietly furious. Through June 30, 2026, the AI-focused fund had posted a net return of 439%. Its assets peaked at approximately $45 billion.
Then July happened.
