Jane Street reports $15B July loss driven by AI fund exposure

Jane Street reported a $15 billion loss in July, marking its first negative trading month since 2016. The drawdown was largely driven by the firm’s exposure to Situational Awareness, an AI-focused hedge fund managed by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner.

After experiencing a 439% return through June, Situational Awareness fell approximately 67% in July due to a market selloff in AI-related technology stocks. This decline triggered margin calls and led the fund to offload much of its stock portfolio in a fire sale to Ken Griffin’s Citadel. Jane Street executives noted in an internal memo that while the drawdown at Situational Awareness contributed to a “bad month,” the firm’s year-to-date stake in the fund remains up over the total investment period.

In addition to the AI-related losses, Jane Street faced hits from long positions in non-AI stocks in Asia. Despite the July setback, the firm’s 2026 net trading revenue has exceeded $40 billion, surpassing its 2025 record of $39.6 billion.