Blackstone is going back to the well for another huge AI financing. People familiar with the matter say it has started early talks with investors about arranging a package tied to Anthropic's use of chips from Alphabet's Google. Those people asked to stay anonymous because they are not allowed to talk publicly.
An early proposal under discussion involved a debt package of at least $36 billion. They also say the amount, terms, structure, and whether Blackstone eventually leads the deal are still being worked out and could change.
The figure surpasses the $35 billion financing that Apollo Global Management and Blackstone arranged about two months ago for Anthropic's custom-chip lease from Google. That package ranks among the largest private-credit deals on record, meaning the money came from private lenders rather than a bank.
Blackstone, Apollo, Anthropic, and Google all declined to comment. Broadcom's representatives did not respond when asked for comment.
Anthropic makes Claude, and it is racing to stay ahead of rival OpenAI. This possible borrowing round follows Anthropic's confidential IPO paperwork in the US, a move aimed at reaching public markets ahead of competitor OpenAI.
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Under the earlier $35 billion deal, Anthropic plans to rent powerful chips at five data centers with Google's help. Google has been close to Anthropic from the start, having backed the company in its early days and bought equity stakes more than once.
Now Google more often helps guarantee funding that supports Anthropic's data centers. That is one reason these deals look circular: Anthropic rents Google chips, Google guarantees the financing, and investors provide the money.
These arrangements can get complicated quickly. As companies rush to build AI infrastructure, leading tech firms have made complex, sometimes circular agreements just to secure access to the chips they need.
The earlier package came through AI XPV Platform, a financing platform launched this year by Broadcom, Apollo, and Blackstone to fund computing infrastructure for major AI companies. It was the first funding piece from that platform.
Broadcom guaranteed the biggest senior slices, the part of the debt paid back first. Morgan Stanley advised and helped organize the deal, according to Bloomberg.
AI is eating capital faster than traditional credit markets can comfortably feed it. That has pushed companies and lenders into new corners of the debt market, and Wall Street has had to invent new debt structures to keep up.
Some companies have already had to offer high yields, meaning higher interest rates, on new debt because investors worry AI projects may not pay off. That worry is the quiet side of every mega deal: there is a lot of excitement, but there is also a lot of borrowed money.
For investors, the size of these deals is worth watching for one simple reason. It shows how much of the AI boom is being built on borrowed money, and borrowed money raises the stakes for everyone involved.
That does not mean the boom is fake. It means the market is making a very large bet, and the next few years will show whether the bets turn into real products and real profits.
If they do, the debt is part of a long growth story. If they don't, the loans will feel a lot heavier to the investors holding them, and that includes anyone whose portfolio owns a piece of the AI trade.
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