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Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are syndicating a record $60B debt package for Anthropic's Google TPU lease, with Broadcom as guarantor.
- The $60B package is the largest chip-financing deal to date, split into a $42B senior tranche and an $18B junior tranche.
- Broadcom is Anthropic's chip supplier and also its lender and credit backstop, with the senior debt resting on its A-minus rating.
- The financing covers about one-third of Anthropic's $125.2B, five-year lease of Google-designed tensor processing units.
Lead
Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and Morgan Stanley (MS) began syndicating a record $60 billion debt package last week. The money will finance Anthropic's lease of Google-designed AI chips supplied by Broadcom (AVGO). It is the largest chip-financing transaction to date. It also tests how far credit markets will follow the capital spending behind AI stocks.What Is in the $60 Billion Package?
The package has two layers. The top layer is a $42 billion Class A senior-secured tranche, marketed by the three lead banks. Broadcom provides credit support for it, which lowers Anthropic's borrowing costs because the debt leans on Broadcom's A-minus rating.
Beneath it sits an $18 billion Class B junior tranche led by Blackstone (BX). Blackstone is committing about $9 billion from its own funds and plans to syndicate the rest. This tranche is unsecured and carries no Broadcom guarantee, and its launch to investors follows the senior tranche.
The proceeds support Anthropic's advanced chip orders for delivery in 2027. Lease payments begin only after the hardware is fully deployed.
Why Is Broadcom Both Supplier and Guarantor?
Broadcom takes on both roles because it designs the tensor processing units, or TPUs, with Alphabet's Google (GOOG) and wants the largest customer for that capacity funded. Anthropic's IPO filing shows Broadcom agreed to lend up to $42 billion. The loan could take the form of convertible notes that may convert into Anthropic shares. The filing also flags potential conflicts of interest from Broadcom acting as supplier and financier.
Anthropic committed in April to a five-year lease worth $125.2 billion for next-generation TPU capacity starting in 2027. It deposited cash in a restricted Broadcom account at the time and may be required to add more. The new loan would cover roughly one-third of that commitment.
An earlier $35 billion private-credit arrangement involving Apollo (APO) and Blackstone financed Anthropic's one-gigawatt chip installations.
How Did Markets React?
Broadcom shares rose more than 2.7% on Friday, October 2, when the financing was first reported. Investors read the structure as long-term revenue visibility from a customer expected to become Broadcom's largest chip-design client by next year. Broadcom projects AI chip revenue of $115 billion in fiscal 2027 and $230 billion in fiscal 2028.
Strategic Context
The structure ties a chipmaker's balance sheet to a customer's growth. Broadcom supplies the hardware, backs the debt and could end up holding Anthropic equity through conversion. Critics describe this as circular financing, because the supplier's credit support helps fund purchases of the supplier's own products. The senior tranche is the part with that backing. The junior tranche has none, so its pricing will show how much risk investors assign to Anthropic on its own.
What Comes Next?
The senior tranche is now being distributed to other banks and institutional lenders. The junior tranche comes next, and its reception will indicate whether appetite for multibillion-dollar chip leases extends beyond investment-grade structures. Anthropic's pending IPO adds a second test, since investors will weigh the lease obligations against revenue growth.
Outlook
The $60 billion package turns AI compute into a debt-market asset class at a scale not seen before. Broadcom's guarantee makes the senior debt marketable, while the unsecured junior layer will price the underlying risk. Demand across both tranches will shape how the next round of AI infrastructure is financed.
