After Broadcom launched a $60 billion debt financing for Anthropic PBC, it is currently planning to provide approximately $30 billion in financial support for the procurement of custom chips for OpenAI. This move signifies that the deep partnership between the chip manufacturer and the developers of AI is extending from technical cooperation to the capital level.
On October 8th, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter, Broadcom has initiated preliminary discussions and plans to arrange financing to help OpenAI purchase the custom AI chips that both parties are jointly developing. A person familiar with the matter stated, "The formal process has not yet been launched, and the plans may still change, but preliminary negotiations indicate that the two companies might seek to raise about $30 billion in debt for the OpenAI chips."
This potential transaction highlights the huge consumption of capital expenditure for the expansion of AI's computing power, and reveals a shift in the industry's financing model. Faced with the increasingly high costs of equipping data centers, technology companies are actively seeking new forms of financing to support the rapid adoption of software and services. Debt financing is becoming a key tool to replace traditional equity financing and to support the construction of massive AI infrastructure.
Currently, Broadcom, OpenAI, and representatives of potential participant Blackstone have all refused to comment on this matter.
Tech giants gather in the debt market, and a wave of infrastructure financing led by AI is on the rise.
The negotiations between Broadcom and OpenAI are not an isolated case; recently, there have been several large-scale transactions in the market aimed at paying for the infrastructure costs of AI.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Oracle is currently in independent negotiations with Apollo Global and Goldman Sachs Group to raise funds for its chip purchases.
In addition, according to Bloomberg, SpaceX under Musk has begun negotiations with banks and investors, planning to raise $40 billion to purchase NVIDIA's chips. Sources indicate that the transaction is not expected to be completed until 2027. It is still unclear at what pace Broadcom's latest financing plan will be realized.
$60 billion in financing to build a computing power capital platform for Broadcom
Before coming into contact with OpenAI, Broadcom had already established a large operational framework in the field of debt financing at AI.
According to previous reports by Bloomberg, Broadcom began to advance a $60 billion debt plan that supports Anthropic last week. Banks participating in this debt package have started sending letter of intent for syndicated loans for the $42 billion of Class A senior secured portion. Meanwhile, Blackstone is leading the $18 billion of Class B subordinated debt and has committed to contributing $9 billion from its various funds.
In June of this year, Broadcom publicly stated that it had established a platform with Apollo Global Management Inc and Blackstone as cornerstone investors. The platform aims to provide financing support of over 20 gigawatts of computing power by 2028 for developers including Anthropic and OpenAI, among others. Fulfilling this agreement will require tens of billions of dollars in funding.
Bind core customers, and accelerate the implementation of the customized chip strategy.
Behind the capital operations lies the deep integration between Broadcom and leading AI laboratories in the custom chip business.
In June this year, OpenAI and Broadcom's CEO, Hock Tan, jointly released their custom Jalapeno chip. The first batch of accelerators, designed to run AI tasks, will be put into use later this year, with plans for a broader deployment in 2027.
Measured by energy consumption, which is a benchmark for data center capacity, Broadcom expects to provide chips with a computing power of 5 gigawatts for OpenAI in 2028. Hock Tan predicts that this AI laboratory will become Broadcom's second-largest customer for custom chips.
Meanwhile, Anthropic will take the lead in Broadcom's custom chip business. Hock Tan stated in September that Anthropic will become the largest customer for this business in 2027. Broadcom plans to deliver chips with a computing power of 5 gigawatts to Anthropic next year, and another 10 gigawatts in the following year.
