Troubles at Situational Awareness Point to Record Stock Market Leverage NYT - Business By: Matthew Goldstein and Rob Copeland 30 September 2026 at 09:02 A meltdown at Situational Awareness, an A.I.-focused investment firm, is raising tough questions about the Wall Street banks that lent billions to the upstart firm. Β© Nicholas Albrecht for The New York TimesBig banks lent Leopold Aschenbrennerβs firm billions to invest in the artificial intelligence boom. Then the firm had a meltdown.