Blackstone Eyes $36B Debt Deal for Anthropic's Google Chips

Blackstone is in preliminary discussions with investors about a second massive debt financing arrangement tied to Anthropic's use of Google's custom chips, according to Bloomberg. An initial proposal places the figure at $36 billion, which would exceed the $35 billion deal that Blackstone and Apollo Global Management closed approximately two months ago.

The terms remain fluid, with the total amount, structure, and participating lenders still under negotiation, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.

The first deal's unprecedented structure

The earlier $35 billion arrangement, completed by Blackstone, Apollo, and Broadcom through a partnership called the AI XPV Platform, ranked among the largest private credit deals on record. That financing was designed to fund Anthropic's deployment of Google's custom tensor processing units across five data center locations.

The deal employed a special-purpose vehicle structure that purchased Google's chips and leased them back to Anthropic, keeping the associated debt off the AI company's balance sheet. The financing was divided into approximately $6 billion of A1 notes, $25 billion of A2 notes, and $4.5 billion of B notes. Broadcom provided residual value support on the senior tranches, with draws scheduled to occur in stages aligned with chip deliveries and lease commencement dates.

Why it matters

The scale of these financing arrangements underscores the capital intensity of competing in frontier AI development. Anthropic's ability to secure tens of billions in off-balance-sheet financing for compute infrastructure gives it runway to train and deploy models without diluting equity or straining its balance sheet ahead of a public offering. The structure also signals investor confidence in both Anthropic's business trajectory and the residual value of specialized AI chips—a bet that could reshape how AI companies finance their infrastructure needs.

Racing to public markets

The timing of this second financing proposal coincides with Anthropic's confidential filing for an initial public offering in the United States. The Claude developer is attempting to reach public markets ahead of rival OpenAI, according to Benzinga. Banks leading the offering have been organizing investor meetings, with Anthropic targeting an IPO as early as October. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase are managing the process.

Representatives for Blackstone, Apollo, Anthropic, and Google declined to comment on the proposed financing.

These details were first reported by Bloomberg.