Bank of America, Blackstone, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley will provide $63 billion in financing for Broadcom artificial intelligence chips and networking equipment intended for Anthropic, marking one of the largest debt transactions linked to the expansion of AI infrastructure.
The deal reflects the growing role of major banks and alternative asset managers in funding the computing capacity required by AI developers as demand for increasingly complex workloads rises.
Under the arrangement announced on Monday, a newly established special purpose vehicle will purchase AI accelerators and networking equipment from Broadcom and lease the assets to Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2027 under a previously announced strategic computing capacity agreement.
Around $43.5 billion, or 69% of the total financing, will consist of first-lien loans or senior debt, according to two sources familiar with the transaction. Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are arranging this portion, while Blackstone will provide the committed second-lien financing, which ranks below senior debt in the repayment structure.
Broadcom will provide what the companies described as “residual value support” to lenders. The arrangement effectively offers protection against potential declines in the value of the financed equipment, although the companies’ statement did not disclose a detailed breakdown of the loans.
Broadcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chipmakers have previously offered guarantees to support financing for advanced chips and data infrastructure. Such arrangements can help lenders manage the risks associated with equipment whose value may fall as technology advances or market conditions change.
The transaction builds on an earlier agreement involving Broadcom, Anthropic and financial investors. Apollo and Blackstone had agreed to finance a $35 billion expansion of Anthropic’s computing capacity under a previous arrangement. Broadcom disclosed in a filing that its financial backstop for that deal could reach $29 billion.
Moody’s has described Broadcom as one of the strongest large technology companies, but warned that risks could rise if several transactions were undertaken within a short period to meet the substantial funding requirements of leading AI developers.
The scale of the financing highlights the capital demands facing companies developing advanced AI systems. Technology firms are competing to secure chips, networking equipment and data centre capacity as they expand their services and train increasingly sophisticated models.
Anthropic’s financing announcement also comes as the company moves towards a potential stock market listing. The AI developer filed for a potentially record-breaking initial public offering on Monday, even as disclosures of significant losses and security concerns raised questions about investor appetite.
The financing will give Anthropic access to additional computing equipment without requiring it to purchase all the assets directly, while lenders and Broadcom will assume different forms of financial exposure to the transaction.
