AI debt market surges
Debt sales tied to AI companies have surged even as public markets wobble, with investors continuing to buy credit exposure to the AI theme. Bloomberg reports this wave of issuance shows credit channels for AI funding remain open despite broader market volatility. (bloomberg.com)
Investors are still buying artificial intelligence debt even as stocks and geopolitics rattle markets, keeping a key funding channel open for the sector. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported on April 11 that Wall Street assembled tens of billions of dollars in recent weeks to finance artificial intelligence expansion despite broader market whiplash tied to Middle East conflict, oil prices and inflation fears. The same report said some investors now see high-grade artificial intelligence debt as a relative haven. (bloomberg.com) That market includes plain-vanilla corporate bonds, leveraged loans and newer asset-backed structures tied to data centers and graphics processing units, the chips used to train and run artificial intelligence models. CoreWeave said on March 31 it closed an $8.5 billion delayed-draw term loan backed by graphics processing unit infrastructure, and said the facility carried A3 and A low ratings. (investors.coreweave.com) The borrowing wave has been building for months. Neuberger Berman, citing Bank of America, said about $93 billion of artificial intelligence-related debt had come to market in the prior few months, more than 5% of investment-grade issuance for the year and nearly triple the $32 billion average annual pace from 2015 through 2024. (nb.com) The borrowers are not just startups. Neuberger Berman said Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Oracle were among the large companies issuing debt to fund data centers and power supplies, even though those companies also generate large operating cash flows. (nb.com) Private artificial intelligence companies have tapped the market too, but at much higher cost. Reuters reported in June 2025 that xAI raised the yield on a $3 billion bond to 12.5% as part of a $5 billion debt package led by Morgan Stanley after investor demand came in softer than hoped. (investing.com) The split is becoming clearer inside credit itself. Bloomberg described demand for high-grade artificial intelligence paper as resilient, while xAI’s 2025 fundraise showed that lower-rated or less proven borrowers still have to pay up to get deals done. (bloomberg.com) (investing.com) Lenders are making that distinction because artificial intelligence infrastructure is expensive in a very physical way. Companies need land, power contracts, cooling systems, networking gear and large clusters of graphics processing units before they can sell cloud capacity or model access. (investors.coreweave.com) (nb.com) For now, the credit market is saying the buildout can continue. As long as investors keep funding data centers, chips and power through bonds and loans, the artificial intelligence boom will not depend on a calm stock market alone. (bloomberg.com) (nb.com)
