Blackstone Inc. has initiated preliminary conversations with investors about putting together a second substantial debt package to finance Anthropic PBC's use of custom chips from Alphabet Inc.'s Google, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday. The talks are at an early stage and the parameters of any deal could change as discussions progress.
One early proposal under consideration was for at least $36 billion in debt. Participants cautioned that specifics such as the total size, the legal and economic structure of the facility, and whether Blackstone would serve as lead arranger were still under negotiation and subject to adjustment.
If that figure held, the contemplated package would eclipse the roughly $35 billion debt arrangement that Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone structured about two months earlier to finance Anthropic's lease of Google's proprietary chips. That prior transaction was notable for ranking among the largest private credit deals on record.
Google has been an early backer of Anthropic, repeatedly acquiring equity stakes in the company. In recent developments the tech giant has increasingly supported financing that underpins data center capacity for the AI startup, expanding its role beyond equity investment to direct support of the infrastructure financing.
The potential new financing comes after Anthropic filed a confidential registration statement for a U.S. initial public offering as it attempts to reach public markets ahead of a key rival. Under the earlier deal, Anthropic plans to lease chips housed at five data centers with Google providing support tied to that financing package.
Across the technology sector, companies are tapping multiple corners of the credit markets to fund capital-intensive AI infrastructure. Financial institutions on Wall Street have created bespoke debt structures to address those needs. The market has also shown that some recent borrowers have accepted relatively high yields on fresh debt, reflecting investor concerns about returns tied to AI investments.
Sectors affected: Data center real estate and private credit markets are most directly implicated, with downstream impacts on cloud infrastructure and AI service providers.