The conditions of a $2.6 billion loan, which will fund additional computing capacity for customers including Anthropic PBC, have been enhanced by CoreWeave Inc. The debt is now selling at 97 cents per dollar, down from 99 cents, based on information from individuals close to the process. The interest rate spread has increased by up to 1.25 percentage points, reaching as high as 5.5 percentage points above the benchmark.
CoreWeave additionally modified the loan agreements to provide better safeguards for lenders. The deadline for investors to submit bids on the loan, managed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., is Thursday.
The loan is structured as a delayed draw term loan, meaning CoreWeave will borrow only what it needs over time and pay interest on just the amount it draws. The money will be used to buy and set up graphics processing units and other equipment that supply computing power to firms such as Anthropic under take-or-pay arrangements.
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At first, investors eagerly sought AI-linked loans because there were few leveraged buyout financings available, but appetite has started to change in the past few weeks as a flood of similar deals hit the market. In its most recent appearance in the U.S. leveraged loan arena, CoreWeave collected $3.1 billion via an unprecedented GPU-secured deal that drew $19 billion in orders.
CoreWeave is drawing from all segments of the high-yield debt market, as the company is anticipated to invest over $34 billion in AI infrastructure this year alone.
Additionally, the loan will fund computing capacity for prominent U.S. trading firms like Hudson River Trading and Jane Street Group, which depend on CoreWeave's cloud services to execute algorithms that react to market changes in microseconds. Greater processing capacity enables them to examine additional data and carry out more transactions.
The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure has prompted lenders to scrutinize the sustainability of such borrowing, especially as CoreWeave's debt protection costs climb. The take-or-pay contracts with clients like Anthropic offer some revenue predictability, but the broader market unease reflects lingering questions about whether the spending will ultimately justify the risk.
However, as more similar deals crowd the market, lenders are demanding higher compensation, as seen in the revised terms and the spike in credit default swap spreads. The take-or-pay agreements with clients such as Anthropic, Jane Street, and Hudson River Trading provide a degree of revenue certainty, but they do not eliminate the risk that demand for AI computing may not grow as quickly as capacity is built.
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