Nebius Group shares got a boost from a well-known AI investor. The stock rose 5.8% in early trading on Thursday after Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness fund announced a 5.6% stake in the neocloud computing company, valued at about $2.86 billion based on Wednesday’s closing price. Here’s a look at who Aschenbrenner is and why his support matters to AI investors.
Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher, left the company to start a fund focused on businesses set to benefit from advances in artificial intelligence. He named his fund Situational Awareness after an essay he published in June 2024, where he argued that superhuman AI could appear as early as 2027. As of Wednesday, the fund owned 12.41 million Class A shares of Nebius.
This investment gives Nebius more credibility with institutions, as the company stands out among neocloud operators expanding AI computing capacity to meet growing business demand. Nebius shares have climbed nearly 150% so far this year. The Situational Awareness fund also holds large stakes in CoreWeave and IREN, underscoring its strong focus on AI infrastructure as a long-term investment theme.
For Nebius investors, Aschenbrenner’s investment shows that experienced AI-focused investors see the neocloud model as a lasting opportunity, not just a short-term trade.
