Now market-watchers are asking whether he’s the harbinger of a wider crash or just an overhyped shooting star. I’d say the latter: despite his guru-like persona, Aschenbrenner’s investment style was as naïve as it was dangerous. Almost all his picks were AI stocks or options that naturally move in a pack, creating so-called ‘concentration risk’. He was heavily exposed to the volatile Korean stock market, which fell by a third from a June peak, and also held short positions (bets that share prices would fall) in ‘legacy’ software stocks such as Adobe which rallied as AI stocks faltered. Wunderkind he may be, but in investment terms he also looks like what used to be called an idiot savant.