WSJ: Broadcom CEO sealed Anthropic's $63B chip debt deal with loan guarantees and higher rates
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-10-27
Per WSJ, Anthropic couldn't afford to buy its chips outright, so a shell company borrowed $63B from banks and Blackstone to buy chips, repaid via Anthropic's rent — the largest AI infrastructure financing ever.
- The deal closed only after Broadcom CEO Hock Tan negotiated with bank executives over a weekend and agreed to higher interest rates.
- Lenders were nervous about a startup's credit, so chip seller Broadcom promised to cover most of the loans if Anthropic stops paying.
- The structure highlights AI's shift to highly leveraged "lease-now-pay-later" compute expansion rather than cash purchases.
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