AMD backs the rent on Core Scientific's 529 megawatts of 15-year AI leases, on terms never filed
Core Scientific's 529 MW of 15-year leases lean on AMD's credit behind an unnamed neocloud's rent, on filed terms narrower than management's "full credit support". The next AMD quarterly filing is where that promise becomes a number.
Richard Tang · 3 min read
Chip makers have started lending their credit to the buildings their chips run in, and AMD+1.01% — AMD, up 1.01 percent today has gone furthest. On July 27, 2026, Core Scientific+2.86% — Core Scientific, up 2.86 percent today, a Nasdaq-listed data center landlord, signed 15-year leases on 529 MW of critical IT capacity, the powered floor that racks plug into 1. AMD rents 377 MW itself; an unnamed neocloud, one of the upstart AI cloud operators, rents 152 MW, and AMD signed credit support agreements standing behind that tenant's leases 1.
Management told investors AMD will provide "full credit support throughout the full 15-year lease term" 2. The filed terms are narrower: the agreements give AMD the right, but not the obligation, to cure certain tenant defaults, and the full agreements were never filed 12.
The landlord is borrowing against the phrase
Core Scientific finances these buildings on their rent. The first block needs about $6 billion of capital, and the plan is to raise it with project-level bonds 2. The company's $3.3 billion of 7.75% senior secured notes due 2031 begin amortizing only when rent starts under the related leases 2.
That lean matters because neocloud rent is what the bond market repriced this month. CoreWeave+1.96% — CoreWeave, up 1.96 percent today, the AI cloud that leases about 590 MW from Core Scientific across five campuses, is the test case 3.
CoreWeave's bonds, sold in June at a yield of 9.675%, now yield about 15% 4. That is past the 1,000 basis points over Treasuries that marks a bond as distressed, on more than $35 billion of debt 5.
The chip sale now ends with the vendor holding the rent
The Core Scientific deal extends a pattern already on AMD's books. Its June quarterly report carried $4.1 billion of maximum gross exposure from guarantees on commercial partners' data center leases, booked as a credit derivative, and AMD says such guarantees may be issued in exchange for warrants 6. Broadcom's+1.54% — Broadcom, up 1.54 percent today latest quarterly report describes a five-year backstop over AI rack leases, with about $29 billion of maximum exposure once every rack is deployed 7.
The signature came with landlord stock. AMD's warrant covers up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47, vesting at 12,222 shares per megawatt of leased capacity 1. Thirty million shares at that rate covers about 2,455 MW: exactly the 529 MW signed plus the 1,925 MW AMD can still claim through December 2028 2. The warrant is sized, in other words, to the whole 2.5 GW partnership 8.
The terms say what each vendor is backing. Broadcom's backstop runs five years, tied to racks that can be resold, and it shrinks as the customer pays 7. AMD's runs fifteen, tied to powered space that could host several generations of chips over the term 2.
AMD signed 529 MW and holds a right to 1,925 MW more
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| AMD leases directly | 377 MW |
| Neocloud leases, AMD-backed | 152 MW |
| AMD reserved right, to Dec 2028 | 1,925 MW |
November 5 is the first real check
Core Scientific reports third-quarter results on November 5 3. It delivered another 48 MW at Dalton, Georgia on October 19, and the update did not say whether the new megawatts have entered billing 3. Its lead AMD site at Pecos, Texas does not energize until the first half of 2027 2.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found in October that sponsor guarantees have let some vehicles in the AI build-out finance about 90 percent of their assets with debt 2. Count AMD's guarantees as exposure, not commentary. Before the November 5 print, read the next AMD quarterly filing for a new, sized guarantee line, and the credit support agreement itself, if Core Scientific files it, for the trigger and the cap 26.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
