Leopold Aschenbrenner

Last updated
Leopold Aschenbrenner
Born2001or2002(age 23–24)
Germany
Education John F. Kennedy School
Columbia University
Occupation(s) AI researcher
Investor
Employer OpenAI (2023 to 2024)
Notable workSituational Awareness

Leopold Aschenbrenner (born 2001or2002 [1] ) is a German artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and investor. He was part of OpenAI's "Superalignment" team before he was fired in April 2024 over an alleged information leak. He has published a popular essay called "Situational Awareness" about the emergence of artificial general intelligence and related security risks. [2]

Contents

Biography

Aschenbrenner was born in Germany. He was educated at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin and graduated as valedictorian from Columbia University in 2021 at age of 19. [1] [3] He did research for the Global Priorities Initiative at Oxford University and co-authored a 2024 working paper with Philip Trammell of Oxford. He also has some experience with the effective altruism movement. [4] As part of the movement, Aschenbrenner was a member of the FTX Future Fund team, a philanthropic initiative created by the FTX Foundation, from February 2022 until FTX's bankruptcy in November of that year. [5] [6]

OpenAI

Aschenbrenner joined OpenAI in 2023, on a project called "Superalignment" that researches how potential future superintelligences could be aligned with human values. [7]

In April 2023, a hacker gained access to OpenAI's internal messaging system and stole information, an event that OpenAI kept private. [8] Subsequently, Aschenbrenner wrote a memo to OpenAI's board of directors about the possibility of industrial espionage by Chinese and other foreign entities, arguing that OpenAI's security was insufficient. According to Aschenbrenner, this memo led to tensions between the board and the leadership about security, and he received a warning from human resources. OpenAI later fired him in April 2024 over an alleged information leak, which Aschenbrenner said was about a benign brainstorming document shared to three external researchers for feedback. OpenAI stated that the firing is unrelated to the security memo, whereas Aschenbrenner said that it was made explicit to him at the time that it was a major reason. [9] [10] The "Superalignment" team was dissolved one month later, with the departure from OpenAI of other researchers such as Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike. [11]

Investment

Aschenbrenner said that he started an investment firm with investors Patrick and John Collison, Daniel Gross, and Nat Friedman. [12] [13] Named after his essay Situational Awareness, the AI-focused hedge fund manages over $1.5 billion as of 2025. [14]

Situational Awareness essay

In 2024, Aschenbrenner wrote a 165-page essay named "Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead". It contains sections that predict the emergence of AGI, imagines a path from AGI to superintelligence, describes four risks to humanity, outlines a way for humans to deal with superintelligent machines, and articulates the principles of an "AGI realism". He specifically warns that the United States needs to defend against the use of AI technologies by countries such as Russia and China. [13] His analysis is based on future capacity for AI systems to conduct AI research, what a Forbes writer referred to as "recursive self-improvement and runaway superintelligence." [15]

References

  1. 1 2 Nærland, Mina Hauge; Bjorkeng, Per Kristian (2024-06-24). "22-åring har satt fyr på Silicon Valley" [22-year-old has set Silicon Valley on fire]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). ISSN   0804-3116.
  2. ↑ "Introduction - SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: The Decade Ahead". situational-awareness.ai. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  3. ↑ "Die Jugend forscht Landessieger 2016 stehen fest" [The 2016 Youth Research State Winners have been announced] (in German). Jugend forscht. 2016-03-16.
  4. ↑ Allen, Mike (2024-06-23). "10 takeaways: AI from now to 2034". Axios. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  5. ↑ Howcroft, Elizabeth (2023-04-06). "Collapse of FTX deprives academics of grants, stokes fears of forced repayment". Reuters.
  6. ↑ Pahwa, Nitish (2023-12-13). "The Money Is Oregone". Slate . ISSN   1091-2339.
  7. ↑ "Ex-OpenAI employee writes AI essay: War with China, resources and robots". heise online. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  8. ↑ Metz, Cade (2024-07-04). "A Hacker Stole OpenAI Secrets, Raising Fears That China Could, Too". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  9. ↑ Altchek, Ana. "Ex-OpenAI employee speaks out about why he was fired: 'I ruffled some feathers'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  10. ↑ "Ex-OpenAI Employee Reveals Reason For Getting Fired, "Security Memo Was..."". NDTV. June 6, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  11. ↑ Field, Hayden (2024-05-17). "OpenAI dissolves team focused on long-term AI risks, less than one year after announcing it". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  12. ↑ "Post Script: Patrick Collison the Swiss dictator; McKillen-Bono whiskey lands ex-Bank of Ireland governor" . www.businesspost.ie. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  13. 1 2 Naughton, John (2024-06-15). "How's this for a bombshell – the US must make AI its next Manhattan Project". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  14. ↑ Rudegeair, Peter (2025-08-10). "Billions Flow to New Hedge Funds Focused on AI-Related Bets". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  15. ↑ Toews, Rob (November 5, 2024). "AI That Can Invent AI Is Coming. Buckle Up". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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