SpaceX is exploring a $40 billion financing tied to Nvidia graphics chips, with Apollo described as taking a leading role in arranging it, according to a person briefed on the talks who requested anonymity. The chips themselves would likely secure the borrowing. Apollo declined to comment, and Nvidia did not immediately respond. The Financial Times first reported that these discussions were underway.
According to the person, the plan focuses on the investment-grade bond market that SpaceX tapped four months earlier. The company sold $25 billion across several maturities two weeks after a record-setting mid-June IPO. At the time, CNBC was told demand from fixed income buyers was exceptionally strong.
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The tone has shifted since that sale. Debt tied to AI has fallen in price, and spreads have moved wider. Both people who spoke to CNBC said more debt issuance is expected, and fixed-income investors are demanding higher yields to service the debt, signaling they are becoming more selective about AI exposure. One credit industry source added that the market still generally assumes GPUs retain value for roughly seven years, and that ongoing scarcity of computing power continues to support high-end GPUs.
Here is the signal, not the noise: companies building AI are likely to keep selling debt, and investors are pushing for higher yields while AI-linked bonds have softened and spreads widened. It points to a market that is still open for business but more choosy about where it takes AI risk.
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