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AI prodigy’s $45B hedge fund collapses after chip bets backfire
business7 days ago

AI prodigy’s $45B hedge fund collapses after chip bets backfire

Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness fund—once a high-flying AI-focused juggernaut that grew from under $4B to about $45B—lost billions in July as SanDisk, Micron, Bloom Energy and other AI-linked chip bets collapsed, triggering margin calls and a fire sale to Citadel’s Ken Griffin. The blowups wiped roughly 67% off the fund’s value in a single month, shrinking the portfolio to around $10B even as the year-to-date performance remained strong; Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher nicknamed the “Nostradamus of AI,” had pivoted to AGI-focused bets, but the risky chip stock wagers precipitated a dramatic implosion just days before his lavish California wedding.

via nypost.com|
#artificial-intelligence#business#hedge-fund
AI wunderkind's $45B hedge fund collapses ahead of California wedding
business23 days ago

AI wunderkind's $45B hedge fund collapses ahead of California wedding

Leopold Aschenbrenner, a 24-year-old founder of Situational Awareness, built a $45 billion AI-focused hedge fund by piling into AI stocks and securing a private stake in Anthropic; as AI bets soured, he reportedly borrowed heavily, sold billions of dollars in holdings to Citadel, and tried to stabilize the fund, which still reportedly manages over $10 billion in assets as he gears up for his Carmel wedding.

via New York Post|
#anthropic#artificial-intelligence#business
Bay Area billionaires flood California politics with $336M this year
politics1 month ago

Bay Area billionaires flood California politics with $336M this year

Fifteen billionaires have poured $336 million into California and national politics this year, per a California Common Good report, led by Chris Larsen (Ripple), Sergey Brin, and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz; Larsen gave about $28 million personally, Brin about $86 million, and Ripple around $56 million, with their combined personal spend totaling $209 million and total footprint (including corporate giving) about $331 million—underscoring the Bay Area's outsized influence on state and federal elections and measures like Proposition D.

via Mission Local|
#billionaires#california#campaign-finance
Veteran Coders Tap AI to Win in Silicon Valley's Shifting Hiring
technology1 month ago

Veteran Coders Tap AI to Win in Silicon Valley's Shifting Hiring

The piece profiles Ben Kovitz, a veteran programmer who navigates Silicon Valley’s AI-driven hiring shift, showing that experienced engineers who can work with AI are in demand, often using AI-powered job tools and coaching to stand out. The market is skewing toward senior, AI-fluent talent and new roles like forward-deployed engineers, with Kovitz ultimately landing a position at Impulse Labs after months of applications and strategic interviewprep.

via KQED|
#ai#job-search#recruitment
Silicon Valley's Elite Invest in a $30K Sex-Health Concierge
business1 month ago

Silicon Valley's Elite Invest in a $30K Sex-Health Concierge

A private concierge gynecology practice in Silicon Valley offers menopause care, hormone therapy and sexual-wellness treatments to billionaire wives and executives, with memberships starting above $10,000 and potentially exceeding $30,000. The service emphasizes long appointments, 24/7 physician access, and personalized treatment plans, attracting high-profile clients such as Gisel Kordestani, Nicole Lacob, and Priscilla Chan. The nickname 'Billionaires’ Vagina Club' highlights Silicon Valley’s health-optimization trend called 'healthmaxxing,' though the founder later stopped using the term. Demand remains high with waitlists as affluent patients seek proactive, holistic sexual health care, amid occasional controversy linked to media appearances and industry debates.

via New York Post|
#business#concierge-gynecology#healthmaxxing
politics2 months ago

California wealth tax heads to ballot as Democratic rift widens

A proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires’ assets survived qualification for the November ballot, pitting labor-backed advocates led by SEIU-UHW against Gov. Newsom and Silicon Valley billionaires. Supporters say the levy would offset federal spending cuts and protect essential services, while opponents warn it would hurt California’s economy and drive the ultra-wealthy to relocate. The campaign is expected to be extraordinarily expensive and will test Democratic attitudes toward wealth taxes ahead of the 2028 primaries.

via Politico|
#ballot-initiative#california#politics
Longevity hype meets medical reality in Silicon Valley as a flagship experiment pauses
technology2 months ago

Longevity hype meets medical reality in Silicon Valley as a flagship experiment pauses

Silicon Valley’s longevity movement gets a reality check as Bryan Johnson halted Rapamycin after years of self-testing, highlighting the gap between hype and proven science: there’s no clinical evidence that any current intervention extends human life, and much of the field rests on self-reported data and individualized tests rather than large-scale trials, even as tech culture pushes rapid experimentation and interest in aging-related drugs like metformin and GLP-1 inhibitors continues.

via TechSpot|
#longevity#mtor#rapamycin
GLM-5.2: The Open-Source Chinese AI Stirring Silicon Valley
technology2 months ago

GLM-5.2: The Open-Source Chinese AI Stirring Silicon Valley

GLM-5.2, a new open-source Chinese AI model from z.AI, is drawing Silicon Valley attention for its long-context capabilities (about 1 million tokens) and strong coding performance; early endorsements from tech leaders compare it to Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5. Like DeepSeek’s R1, GLM-5.2 is open-source, letting users run and modify it locally, which could threaten the dominance of closed models from OpenAI and Anthropic. The development underscores the US-China AI race, with China pushing cheaper, capable open-source models while the US emphasizes chips and controls; industry watchers warn the window to lock in frontier capabilities may not stay open long.

via Business Insider|
#artificial-intelligence#china-us-ai-race#glm-52
politics2 months ago

Californians face ballot on a one-time 5% tax on the ultra-rich

California’s secretary of state certified that a proposed one-time 5% tax on ultrarich assets has qualified for the November ballot, firing up a costly clash over funding for health care and the state budget. Proponents led by SEIU-UHW and backed by Bernie Sanders argue the levy would counter federal spending cuts and prevent hospital closures, while opponents including Google co-founder Sergey Brin warn it could undermine California’s business climate and drain tax revenue. The campaign is expected to be among the most expensive in state history and could shape economic sentiment ahead of the 2028 primaries, with a potential deal to pull or modify the measure still on the negotiating table.

via Politico|
#ballot-initiative#billionaires-tax#california
Biohackers in Silicon Valley chase longer life—yet science remains unsettled
science2 months ago

Biohackers in Silicon Valley chase longer life—yet science remains unsettled

Tech titans and influencers are testing longevity regimens—from Bryan Johnson’s rapamycin experiments (which he stopped in 2024 due to skin infections, high glucose, and lipid changes) to various supplements, plasma infusions, growth hormone, and other compounds—often shared on social media. Researchers caution that these approaches lack robust human data and could be unsafe, describing a “shadow phase two” of self-experimentation that precedes rigorous clinical trials needed to prove any real benefit to healthspan or lifespan.

via Nature|
#aging#biohacking#biotechnology
Nerdy Escorts Ride Silicon Valley's AI Gold Rush
innovation2 months ago

Nerdy Escorts Ride Silicon Valley's AI Gold Rush

A Forbes feature highlights a niche group of high-end escorts who cater to Silicon Valley’s AI crowd, charging thousands per hour by blending technical savvy with intimate companionship. Clients are often founders or researchers drawn to deep conversations about AI and tech, turning recruitment-like, nerd-first marketing into a premium service amid a broader AI wealth boom. The piece argues authenticity and human connection remain a rare luxury in a world of endless digital companionship, justifying sky-high prices while underscoring the risks and ethical ambiguities of the venture.

via Forbes|
#artificial-intelligence#economics#escort-industry