Anthropic Secures $36B Debt to Lease Google’s TPUs, Broadcom Backstops Payments
Apollo and Blackstone are arranging $36B in debt financing for AI startup Anthropic to lease Google’s tensor processing units, with Broadcom backing payments on the largest tranches. This deal underscores rising demand for Google’s custom AI chips as Anthropic scales computing capacity following its $65B funding at a $965B valuation.
1. Deal Overview
Apollo and Blackstone are coordinating roughly $36 billion in debt financing to support Anthropic's AI infrastructure expansion. The lenders plan to syndicate portions of the debt to external investors while retaining significant stakes.
2. Google TPU Demand
Proceeds will fund the purchase of Google’s tensor processing units, which Anthropic will lease to power its Claude chatbot services. This arrangement highlights growing enterprise demand for custom AI chips from Alphabet.
3. Broadcom Backstop and Terms
Broadcom is backstopping payments on the largest debt tranches, leveraging its credit profile to enhance deal stability. Investors have been invited to submit orders this week, with closing expected next week subject to final terms.
4. Anthropic Valuation and Future Outlook
Anthropic recently secured $65 billion in funding at a $965 billion valuation, surpassing peer OpenAI, and is exploring an initial public offering later this year. The additional infrastructure financing aims to meet surging usage and performance targets.
