Leopold Aschenbrenner's venture fund, Situational Awareness, has become one of the most widely followed private funds today. It's named after a thesis he wrote that's available to read online, where he details his vision for artificial general intelligence (AGI).
"Everyone is now talking about AI, but few have the faintest glimmer of what is about to hit them," he wrote. "We will have superintelligence, in the true sense of the word." Aschenbrenner formerly worked at OpenAI, and he started the AGI-focused fund in 2024 with about $250 million.
As of the end of the first quarter, Situational Awareness had $5.5 billion in funds and 24 stocks. They're mostly AI support stocks, rather than the headline AI names like Nvidia and Broadcom.
Aschenbrenner is intimately familiar with the workings of AI development and has been ahead of the curve, and these stocks are all outperforming the S&P 500 this year. These are the top seven holdings.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Bloom Energy: 16%
Aschenbrenner has made Bloom Energy (BE 2.69%) his biggest bet. This energy company sells solid oxide fuel cell systems, otherwise known as Bloom Energy Servers, that produce reliable on-site electricity for various facilities. Although the company has been around for a long time, it's gotten a new lease on life since its products can power large data centers off the electricity grid.
Bloom Energy has joined the AI boom, and the stock is up 150% this year alone. Situational Awareness also owns Bloom Energy calls, a separate high-conviction take.
NYSE: BE
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2. Lumentum Holdings: 8.7%
Lumentum (LITE +4.10%) provides optical infrastructure for data centers, cloud computing, and telecommunications. It makes laser and photonic equipment that speeds up data transfer, which is why it has become a core component of AI technology. Lumentum has also been in operation for many years, but AI infused new life into the company and the stock, and it's up 143% year to date.
3. CoreWeave: 7.9%
CoreWeave (CRWV 6.16%) is one of the fund's more well-known stocks for AI investors. The company, which is backed by Nvidia, operates cloud and data center infrastructure and enables customers to run training and inference for AI hyperscaler development more efficiently than using traditional cloud platforms.
CoreWeave stock is up 63% this year. The fund's second-largest position is actually CoreWeave calls, which account for 14% of the portfolio.
NASDAQ: CRWV
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4. Core Scientific: 7.4%
Core Scientific (CORZ +0.34%) operates data centers, and it recently switched from mostly supporting cryptocurrency mining to supporting AI development. It has some serious funding from companies like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley as it builds out its infrastructure to meet high demand. Its stock is up 36% year to date.
5. Iren: 6%
Iren (IREN 2.65%) is another data center infrastructure provider, and it has also switched from cryptocurrency mining to AI development. It buys land to build data centers, and it focuses on power-connected properties. Because it owns and builds its own locations, it can also build according to client specifications.
Iren has the lowest year-to-date gains on this list at 29%, but it's up 772% over the past year.
6. Applied Digital: 5%
Applied Digital (APLD 3.66%) is also a more well-known AI stock, and it has also moved from crypto mining to AI (sensing a theme?) It develops custom data centers for clients and rents them out, and it's building out at a fast pace to meet incredible demand. It has a partnership with CoreWeave, which is one of its biggest clients.
Applied Digital stock is up 32% this year, and 715% over the past year.
NASDAQ: APLD
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7. Sandisk: 4.5%
Sandisk (SNDK +6.16%) is yet another AI infrastructure company, but it fills a different gap than most of the stocks on this list. Its NAND flash memory products resolve one of the biggest problems for technology companies by providing non-volatile memory, or continuous memory without a power source. It's also energy efficient and low cost.
Like some of these other stocks, it's a company that has reinvented itself to meet new AI needs for storage solutions, and its niche products are in high demand. Sandisk stock is up 284% this year and a whopping 2,800% over the past year.
