Anthropic offers Blackstone a 10% coupon in a $60 billion TPU deal — 3 points over similar bonds
Anthropic offered Blackstone a 10% coupon on $9 billion of junior debt in a roughly $60 billion package to finance about 1.5 gigawatts of Google TPUs, the Financial Times reported on October 16, 2026. That is more than 3 percentage points above the roughly 7% similarly rated borrowers pay publicly. Broadcom would guarantee the $42 billion senior tranche; the deal has not closed
The three lines
- Structure — $42B Broadcom-guaranteed senior plus $18B junior; Blackstone takes $9B
- Price — 10% coupon plus discounts and fees, up from 8.5% four months earlier
- Why — rated one notch below investment grade, secured only by five-year chip leases
Key questions
- Anthropic Blackstone chip financing
- **Blackstone funds would take $9 billion of junior debt, per the FT.** Not yet closed. | Item | Detail | |---|---| | Total | ~$60B ('Project North Star') | | Purpose | ~1.5 GW of Google TPUs | | Senior | ~$42B, Broadcom-guaranteed | | Junior | $18B; Blackstone $9B | | Coupon | 10% |
- Anthropic credit rating
- **KBRA rated Anthropic one notch below investment grade in June.** | Item | Detail | |---|---| | Agency | KBRA | | Date | June 2026 | | Rating | One notch below investment grade | | Goal | Investment grade |
- AI chip lease debt interest rate
- **The junior coupon is 1.5 points above Anthropic's last deal.** | Deal | Size | Rate | |---|---|---| | Project Big Sky (~4 months ago) | $4.4B | 8.5% | | North Star junior (Blackstone) | $9B | 10% coupon | | Similar-rated public bonds | — | ~7% |
The cost of borrowing to buy AI chips is going up. The Financial Times reported on October 16, 2026 that Anthropic, raising about $60 billion to secure roughly 1.5 gigawatts of Google's TPU chips, offered Blackstone a 10% coupon to take $9 billion of the riskiest, junior layer. It would be the largest chip financing yet.
Ten percent is more than 3 percentage points above the roughly 7% similarly rated borrowers pay in public bond markets, and above the 8.5% Anthropic paid on a $4.4 billion deal just four months ago. It arrives the same week investors reportedly cut their IPO valuation expectations for Anthropic from about $2 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
1. How the $60 billion stacks up
| Layer | Size | Who | Backing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | ~$42B | Banks and institutions | Guaranteed by Broadcom |
| Junior (1) | $9B | Blackstone-managed funds | Anthropic's five-year chip lease payments |
| Junior (2) | $9B | Other investors, in coming months | Same; possibly lower yield |
| Total | ~$60B | "Project North Star" | ~1.5 GW of Google TPUs |
Senior lenders are repaid first; junior lenders absorb losses first. Broadcom, which co-designs TPUs with Google, guarantees the senior $42 billion, keeping its cost low. The unguaranteed $18 billion junior layer relies only on five years of lease payments — hence the higher price. Per the FT, the debt could trade in the 144A private bond market once drawn in 2027.
2. Why three extra points
| Comparison | Rate | Spread |
|---|---|---|
| Similar-rated public bonds | ~7% | Baseline |
| Project Big Sky (~4 months ago, $4.4B) | 8.5% | +1.5 pts |
| North Star junior (Blackstone) | 10% coupon + discounts/fees | +3 pts or more |
Rating. KBRA rated Anthropic one notch below investment grade in June. Many pension funds and insurers can't easily hold sub-investment-grade debt, shrinking the buyer pool and lifting the price. The new junior debt is expected to be rated similarly; Anthropic is seeking investment-grade status.
Collateral. Chips age fast. Five years of lease payments as security means Anthropic must keep revenue growing to service it — on top of more than $518 billion in ten-year cloud and compute commitments disclosed in its prospectus.
Market mood. CoreWeave bonds traded near 15% this week, and Gartner warned that over $3.5 trillion of AI infrastructure spending could face impairment by 2030. Required returns on AI debt are rising across the board.
3. What each side gets
| Party | Gains | Risks |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 1.5 GW of chips without issuing shares before the IPO | Double-digit interest |
| Blackstone | ~3 points over comparable public credit | First loss if growth falters |
| Broadcom | More TPU volume | Guarantee on $42B |
For Anthropic, expensive debt beats diluting shareholders ahead of a listing. Third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion and adjusted profitability are the numbers it offers lenders as reassurance.
4. What is not yet known
- Closing: the FT cites people familiar with the matter; Blackstone declined to comment.
- True yield: only that it exceeds 10% once discounts and fees are included.
- The other $9 billion: whether it sells at a lower rate will be the next market signal.
Sources
- Investing.com (citing FT) — Anthropic offers Blackstone over 10% yield in $60B AI chip financing
- Crypto Briefing — Anthropic offers Blackstone double-digit yield in $60 billion chip financing push
- NewsBytes — Anthropic offers Blackstone over 10% yield for $60B chip-financing deal
- Analytics Insight — Anthropic Offers Blackstone Over 10% on USD 60B AI Chip Deal