LeopoldAschenbrenner's AI fund has a year-to-date return of approximately 80%

July 31 According to a letter sent to investors on Thursday seen by Reuters, the value of its portfolio fell 67% in July due to a sharp decline in AI stocks, a hedge fund managed by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. According to people familiar with the matter, the AI-focused hedge fund managed by Aschenbrenner sold most of its equity portfolio to billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel this week and closed most of its public stock positions. "We are closer to permanent capital losses than we can accept," Aschenbrenner wrote in a letter to investors. He added that while the company eventually found a solution, it never intended to put itself in such a situation. "We have let everyone down this month," he said in the letter. The Wall Street Journal first disclosed the letter late Thursday. However, the letter shows that due to the impressive previous gains, the fund's cumulative return since 2026 has still reached 80%. Aschenbrenner also said the fund remained "very optimistic" about its current portfolio, believing that despite the sharp decline in stock prices, the fundamentals of the underlying assets continued to improve.