AI infrastructure stocks rebounded sharply Thursday after Citadel agreed to purchase the entire public equity portfolio of Situational Awareness LP — the hedge fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner — following a forced liquidation triggered by margin calls on a portfolio running approximately four times leverage.

The mechanics were straightforward. The fund’s concentrated positions in AI infrastructure names — SK Hynix, CoreWeave, Nebius, Micron, Bloom Energy — fell 35–47% in July as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 28.6% from its June 22 peak. At four times leverage, a 25% decline in underlying positions mathematically wipes out an investor’s entire equity contribution. When Goldman…