Broadcom lends Anthropic $42 billion, then raises $50 billion for OpenAI's chips

Both sides of the loan book in one week

Banks began sending syndication letters last week for a $42 billion senior-secured tranche of the $60 billion Broadcom▼−3.95% — Broadcom, down 3.95 percent today-backed package that pays for Anthropic'sPVT$350B — Anthropic, private, latest valuation $350B chips, with Blackstone leading an $18 billion junior slice ¹. Days later, the Journal reports↗, Broadcom is working to arrange more than $50 billion from Apollo and Blackstone for the custom chip it is building with OpenAIPVT$1.18T — OpenAI, private, latest valuation $1.18T, a 10-gigawatt program due in service from the second half of 2026 through the end of 2029, and that package could close before year-end ²³. The vendor lends one customer the money to buy its silicon, then borrows to build the next customer's.

Anthropic's filing flags the loop itself

In the Anthropic deal, Broadcom is supplier, equipment lessor, direct lender of up to $42 billion in convertible notes, and backstop on the senior debt; Anthropic's IPO filing discloses the arrangement and calls the overlap a "potential conflict of interest"↗ ⁴. The $60 billion debt package plus up to $42 billion in convertible notes put roughly $102 billion behind Broadcom's guarantee or its own lending ⁴, against $59.6 billion of gross debt and six custom-chip customers ⁵.

Oracle keeps the leverage off its books

Oracle▼−5.21% — Oracle, down 5.21 percent today is negotiating with Apollo and Goldman Sachs▼−0.37% — Goldman Sachs, down 0.37 percent today and wants a deal done this year ²³. Investors would fund a separate company that buys the chips and leases them to Oracle, a structure Cambridge Associates warns "sits off balance sheet, obscuring its risk profile" ⁴. SpaceX▼−1.85% — SpaceX, down 1.85 percent today is the week's third leg: about $40 billion led by Apollo, split between $10 billion of bank loans and $30 billion of investment-grade debt↗ ⁶, with the GPUs likely posted as collateral ⁷, on top of nearly $40 billion of existing debt that trades near junk ⁷.

Six quarters of spending beyond cash

Oracle's filings↗ explain the turn to lenders: capex has exceeded operating cash flow for six straight quarters, $28.5 billion against $23.1 billion in the quarter through August, while total debt climbed from $93 billion to $156 billion since mid-2024 ⁸.

The forecast now sits with the lenders

Bulls can cite contracted demand: Broadcom's June platform with Apollo and Blackstone covers more than 20 gigawatts through 2028 ¹. But the numbers still move: the Anthropic package was reported as high as $100 billion before settling at $60 billion ⁴, and one person familiar with the OpenAI talks puts that leg nearer $30 billion↗ ¹. Morgan Stanley▼−1.03% — Morgan Stanley, down 1.03 percent today estimates AI infrastructure will need $1.5 trillion of external financing by 2028 ⁶, bond investors are already demanding higher yields ⁷, and Rothschild's Robert Leitao sees "quite a concentrated bet" on two companies' ability to generate the revenue ⁴.

The coupon is the tell

Broadcom's package could close before year-end ³. The coupon it sets is the marginal cost of the next gigawatt, and Oracle's next filing will show whether the leaseback stayed off the books. The chips are ordered; the revenue is a forecast the lenders now own.