Anthropic is constructing an unprecedented massive financing system to support its rapidly expanding computing power needs.
According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, Blackstone Group LP has begun preliminary discussions with investors to lead a debt financing package of at least $36 billion, specifically designated to cover the fees Anthropic pays to Alphabet for renting AI chips.
If this financing is ultimately finalized, its scale would surpass the $35 billion debt package arranged by Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Group LP about two months ago, which was already one of the largest private credit transactions in history.
The emergence of this massive new funding highlights the insatiable demand for capital in AI infrastructure construction and the increasingly complex capital relationships between tech giants, financial institutions, and AI startups. Alphabet is both an early investor in Anthropic and now provides backing for its chip rental transactions, forming a capital cycle structure—the billions of dollars injected by Alphabet ultimately flow back to Alphabet itself in the form of rental fees.
Closed-Loop Financing System Continues to Expand
This round of financing is an extension of the "circular transaction" system between Anthropic and Alphabet. Alphabet is one of Anthropic's early investors, having subscribed to its equity multiple times, and is increasingly providing backing for the financing that supports the startup's data center operations.
Ed Elson, a well-known US financial podcast host and analyst, commented directly on social media: Alphabet has invested billions in Anthropic, Anthropic uses that money to rent chips from Alphabet—but Alphabet's billions are not enough, so Anthropic borrows billions more from Blackstone Group LP.
In the previous $35 billion debt package, Anthropic planned to use the financing to rent Alphabet's powerful custom chips across five data centers, with Alphabet providing a guarantee for the most senior tranche of that debt.
Another core participant in this financing structure is Broadcom. Earlier this year, Broadcom, Apollo, and Blackstone Group LP jointly established a cooperation platform called "AI XPV Platform," specifically designed to provide funding for computing infrastructure to leading AI companies, including Anthropic. The previously completed $35 billion debt transaction was the platform's first completed deal.
As noted by financial media, Broadcom provided a guarantee for the repayment of the most senior tranche in that transaction, with Morgan Stanley acting as an advisor and assisting in arranging the deal.
Anthropic Expands Computing Power on Multiple Fronts, AI Credit Market Under Pressure
Meanwhile, Anthropic's computing power expansion is not limited to Alphabet channels. According to industry analysis firm SemiAnalysis, Anthropic has signed a $10 billion computing power agreement with chip computing company Bitdeer and Volta Infra, a Neocloud startup founded by former Brookfield executives.
SemiAnalysis points out that the direct driver of this new computing capacity is the rapid growth in demand for the Claude Code product. The firm stated on social media: Demand for Claude Code is rising sharply.
These financing moves come after Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO in the United States. The developer of the Claude series of models is seeking to go public ahead of its competitor OpenAI. The arrangement of this new round of massive debt financing may, to some extent, reflect its intention to strengthen its balance sheet and computing power reserves on the eve of its IPO.
From a broader perspective, the siphoning effect of AI infrastructure construction on the capital market is intensifying. Tech companies are knocking on every door of the credit market to meet the unprecedented capital demands of AI, forcing Wall Street to design various new types of debt structures. At the same time, some companies have recently had to pay high interest rates when issuing new debt, reflecting lingering market concerns about the prospects for AI investment returns.
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