Too Situationally Aware to Fail

This week: Situational Awareness—an A.I.-forward hedge fund led by a former wunderkind and OpenAI employee—was tanking fast until a rival fund stepped in. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck explain the series of events that led to Citadel swooping in to buy the bulk of assets held by 25-year-old Leopold Aschenbrenner’s investment firm. Then, it’s time to talk about the “crack spread”—aka the reason we aren’t seeing relief at the gas stations despite steadying oil prices. And finally, the hosts discuss the backlash to the SEC’s proposal to do away with its quarterly report requirement. 

In the Slate Plus episode: Is Cheaper Gas Worth Your Time?

After publication Citadel reached out with the following corrections and points of clarification:

• Citadel, the hedge fund, executed the Situational Awareness trade, not Citadel Securities.
• Citadel Securities is a market maker, not a bank. 
• Citadel Securities’ Frank Flight, Head of Macro Strategy, released his July analysis on the potential Fed rate hike.
• Citadel and Citadel Securities are separate companies; Ken Griffin does not serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Securities. While founded by Ken, Citadel Securities’ Chief Executive Officer is Peng Zhao.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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