Alphabet raises $20-25B via bonds; SoftBank secures $10B loan using OpenAI shares
Alphabet is issuing ten bonds with maturities ranging from 2 to 40 years to raise between $20 billion and $25 billion. Meanwhile, SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 has secured a $10 billion, two-year collateralized loan from a banking syndicate using its shares in OpenAI as backing. This highlights the immense capital requirements of the ongoing AI race, where companies must secure massive funding to pay for expensive computing power and talent. It shows how tech giants and major investors are utilizing diverse financial instruments to maintain their competitive edge without immediately selling off valuable assets. Alphabet's longest-term bonds will yield 1.3 percentage points above US Treasuries. SoftBank's loan is backed by a syndicate including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Mizuho, Apollo, and SMBC, and the funds will be used for general corporate purposes.
## BACKGROUND
Building and training advanced artificial intelligence models requires massive infrastructure investments, particularly in specialized chips like GPUs and data centers. As a result, tech companies are increasingly turning to debt markets and asset-backed loans to raise capital without diluting equity or selling off strategic holdings.