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Big tech’s AI debt and "the bums problem.”

December 16, 2025
5 MIN READ 5 MIN READ

Over the last few months, artificial intelligence (AI)-related debt issuance from so-called hyperscalers (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle) has flooded the investment-grade bond market. Historically, these firms have been largely absent from debt markets, relying instead on cash-heavy funding models for their near-term
growth ambitions. As the AI race heats up, so does the debt issuance for its required development and infrastructure build. Year-to-date AI issuance has risen to over $100 billion, triple the past 10 years’ average of $32 billion annually and roughly 7% of the entire investment-grade market’s issuance thus far in 2025.

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