Apollo and Blackstone are financing a $35 billion（約5.6兆円） deal to purchase custom AI chips from Google and Broadcom and lease them to Anthropic, with portions of the debt expected to trade in secondary markets within months. The structure allows institutional investors like insurers and mutual funds to buy and sell the debt after it is drawn, reflecting a broader private-markets bet that infrastructure ownership—not AI model development—may be the bigger wealth generator in the AI boom.
Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.
Sign up free →What happened
A $35 billion（約5.6兆円） financing package backing Broadcom and Anthropic's AI infrastructure buildout is being structured so that portions of the debt will trade in the secondary market (the 144A market for privately issued securities) after being drawn. The deal uses a special-purpose vehicle to finance custom AI chips developed by Google and Broadcom, which are then leased to Anthropic, with Broadcom providing a payment backstop on the largest senior tranches. Funds will be drawn in approximately 16 releases over a little over a year as chips are produced.
Why it matters
This deal signals a shift in how private markets are funding AI infrastructure—moving beyond direct equity or venture capital into structured debt instruments that large institutional investors (insurers, mutual funds) can trade. The approach suggests that investors see greater returns in owning the infrastructure AI developers depend on rather than betting directly on AI model-building companies. Other major private equity firms (Brookfield Asset Management, KKR & Co., Blackstone) are also pouring billions into AI infrastructure, indicating a broad private-markets pivot toward this asset class.
What to watch
The debt is expected to begin trading in the secondary market in the coming months, which will reveal how institutional investors value long-term AI infrastructure financing and may set a template for similar deals. The 16 staged releases over a little over a year create a staggered funding schedule tied to actual chip production milestones.
The deal is structured around a special-purpose vehicle that decouples chip ownership from Anthropic's balance sheet, allowing the lender to hold and trade physical assets (the custom AI chips) while Anthropic pays lease payments. This structure is creative because it transforms what might otherwise be an equity or venture round into tradeable debt, giving institutional investors both security (the hardware as collateral) and liquidity (secondary-market exit). The 16 staggered draws over a little over a year tie financing to actual production cycles, reducing lender risk and matching cash outflows to tangible milestones.
The appetite for this deal reflects a broader conviction among large private-equity managers that the AI infrastructure layer—not the frontier AI models themselves—will be the most reliable cash generator. By owning the chips and leasing them to model developers like Anthropic, investors capture recurring revenue while insulating themselves from the competitive volatility of AI research. The fact that Brookfield Asset Management, KKR & Co., and Blackstone are all simultaneously investing billions in AI infrastructure suggests this view is becoming a mainstream private-markets thesis, not a one-off bet.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Log in to join the discussion
Get curated AI news from 200+ sources delivered daily to your inbox. Free to use.
Get Started FreeFree · takes 30 seconds · unsubscribe anytime
1 minute a day. The AI essentials.
200+ sources · Email / LINE / Slack
