We just covered From Fired Researcher to $13.7 Billion King: How Leopold Aschenbrenner Broke the Hedge Fund World and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) ranks 1st on this list.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) is a new addition to the 13F portfolio of Situational Awareness LP. The fund declared a new stake in the company in filings for the first quarter of 2026. This stake consists of PUT bets worth over 5.3 million shares. Previously, Leopold Aschenbrenner had bought a stake in this ETF back in the second quarter of 2025. This position consisted of more than 2 million shares and was sold off by the next quarter. The bearish bet against the chip sector represents close to 15% of the 13F portfolio of the hedge fund run by AI expert Leopold Aschenbrenner. This is not an isolated bet but part of a larger close to $8 billion position against the chip sector that comprises over 60% of 13F portfolio of the fund.
This massive bet against VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) represents a continuation of an investment strategy championed by Leopold Aschenbrenner that focuses on companies providing the picks and shovels for this AI revolution. In layman terms, instead of betting on the gold itself, like AI software or chip firms, Aschenbrenner is betting on the companies that provide the picks and shovels for gold digging, like power companies and repositioned Bitcoin miners providing AI compute. In his June 2024 essay ***** led SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: The Decade Ahead, Aschenbrenner had predicted that, “As AI revenue grows rapidly, many trillions of dollars will go into GPU, datacenter, and power buildout before the end of the decade. The industrial mobilization, including growing US electricity production by 10s of percent, will be intense”.
While we acknowledge the potential of SMH as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: Growth Stock Portfolio: 12 Stock Picks by Carl C. Icahn and Chris Rokos Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) is a new addition to the 13F portfolio of Situational Awareness LP. The fund declared a new stake in the company in filings for the first quarter of 2026. This stake consists of PUT bets worth over 5.3 million shares. Previously, Leopold Aschenbrenner had bought a stake in this ETF back in the second quarter of 2025. This position consisted of more than 2 million shares and was sold off by the next quarter. The bearish bet against the chip sector represents close to 15% of the 13F portfolio of the hedge fund run by AI expert Leopold Aschenbrenner. This is not an isolated bet but part of a larger close to $8 billion position against the chip sector that comprises over 60% of 13F portfolio of the fund.
This massive bet against VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) represents a continuation of an investment strategy championed by Leopold Aschenbrenner that focuses on companies providing the picks and shovels for this AI revolution. In layman terms, instead of betting on the gold itself, like AI software or chip firms, Aschenbrenner is betting on the companies that provide the picks and shovels for gold digging, like power companies and repositioned Bitcoin miners providing AI compute. In his June 2024 essay ***** led SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: The Decade Ahead, Aschenbrenner had predicted that, “As AI revenue grows rapidly, many trillions of dollars will go into GPU, datacenter, and power buildout before the end of the decade. The industrial mobilization, including growing US electricity production by 10s of percent, will be intense”.
While we acknowledge the potential of SMH as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: Growth Stock Portfolio: 12 Stock Picks by Carl C. Icahn and Chris Rokos Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks.
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