CNBC reported on August 21, 2026, that Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is in talks to raise $70 billion to $80 billion in debt for a chip financing deal supporting AI companies, including Anthropic. The senior tranche, repaid first, is expected to be around $45 billion, with a junior tranche around $35 billion, though the figures remain flexible. Bloomberg first reported the deal could reach $100 billion in total, with Blackstone and Apollo Global Management among the firms in talks to participate. The raise would extend a partnership Broadcom, Apollo, and Blackstone unveiled in June, which committed $35 billion to expand Anthropic’s computing infrastructure using Broadcom’s custom chips. Broadcom shares rose about 1% on the news.
Bull Case
The deal strengthens Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s position as critical infrastructure for AI labs beyond Nvidia’s ecosystem. Broadcom designs custom chips for Alphabet, Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI, and this financing extends its role in helping major AI labs reduce dependence on a single chip supplier. That diversification of demand sources gives Broadcom a structurally different customer relationship than a pure merchant chip seller.
The financing structure keeps this exposure off Broadcom’s own balance sheet in its rawest form. A special-purpose vehicle raises the debt and leases the chips back to customers like Anthropic, rather than Broadcom borrowing the money directly. Structuring growth capital this way lets Broadcom participate in AI infrastructure buildout without carrying the full debt load on its own books.
The scale of plans shows durable demand rather than a one-off transaction. The original June partnership targeted delivering over 20 gigawatts of compute to top AI labs by 2028, and this expansion moves toward that target. A multi-year capacity commitment of that size shows Broadcom’s AI customers are planning for sustained growth and not a short-term spending burst.
Bear Case
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is still on the hook if its customers cannot pay, even with the debt structured off-balance-sheet. CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos explained that “Broadcom’s job is to guarantee part of that debt, and that guarantee is where the risk sits.” It means a slowdown at Anthropic or another financed customer could still hit Broadcom directly despite the SPV structure.
The numbers keep growing every time a new outlet reports them, from over $60 billion to $70-80 billion to as much as $100 billion, which points to real uncertainty in how this deal is being finalized. Fluid terms this large, still being negotiated with lenders, carry real execution risk if credit markets tighten before the financing closes.
The exposure is also part of a much bigger industry pattern investors are starting to question. Bank of America estimates guarantee-related exposure across this kind of AI financing could reach $370 billion by 2029, Yahoo Finance reported. Nvidia pursues a similar structure at more than $500 billion. If demand for AI compute ever slows meaningfully, guarantees layered this widely across the industry could be tested at the same time.
Conclusion
This deal cements Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) as a central financier, not just a chipmaker, in the AI buildout. It is bullish as long as demand keeps growing and bearish the moment it does not.
READ NEXT: Warren Buffett “Blew It” on Alphabet (GOOGL) And Made It Berkshire’s Third-Biggest Bet and Sony Group (SONY) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Are Betting $4.7 Billion on the “Eyes” of AI Machines.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Hedge Fund Resource Center