From whispers of an Anthropic stake sale to strange options moves, traders sensed trouble and swung into action. David Mann, CEO of Mannsion Group, learned on July 29 that his hedge fund Situation Awareness was attempting to purchase a share of Anthropic's stake—a move requiring completion overnight. Leopold Aschenbrenner, the hedge fund's founder who had been a former OpenAI employee, was being forced to sell his position.

With steep losses following a tumble in AI stocks and mounting pressure from banks seeking margin calls, Aschenbrenner found himself in urgent need of capital. This created tension within the firm as elite investors like Steve Cohen and Daniel Loeb became aware of the development. Short sellers also began targeting his favored stocks, signaling broader market concern about the position's stability.