Via nvidia.com
Hyperscalers have already blown past 2025's total bond issuance as Goldman Sachs projects nearly $500B in AI-related debt this year
The biggest tech companies on Earth are borrowing money at a pace that has caught even Wall Street off guard. AI-focused hyperscalers have issued between $159 billion and more than $220 billion in bonds so far in 2026, already surpassing the entire total from 2025, which clocked in at roughly $108 billion to $120 billion.
Goldman Sachs now projects that AI-related debt issuance could reach nearly $489 billion to $500 billion by year’s end. To put that in perspective, the same companies issued just $13 billion to $17 billion in 2024.
Who’s writing the biggest checks #
Amazon is leading the charge with approximately $53 billion in debt commitments to fund its AI infrastructure buildout. Oracle follows at around $25 billion, with Alphabet close behind at roughly $20 billion.
The reason is straightforward: capital expenditures have outgrown internal cash flows. Building data centers, stockpiling advanced chips, and laying the physical groundwork for AI at scale costs more than even trillion-dollar companies can comfortably self-finance. The projected AI ecosystem capital expenditure for 2026 sits at $725 billion to $740 billion, with estimates climbing past $1 trillion for 2027.
The credit markets are noticing #
Several recent bond offerings from hyperscalers have experienced price weakness after hitting the market. When bonds trade below their issue price shortly after launch, it’s the fixed-income world’s version of a lukewarm reception.
Private credit has also entered the picture as an additional funding channel.
Why the spending can’t slow down #
Amazon’s AWS division, Google Cloud, and Oracle’s enterprise offerings are all racing to offer customers the most capable AI infrastructure.
The jump from $13 billion to $17 billion in 2024 issuance to a projected $500 billion in 2026 reflects just how quickly the competitive landscape shifted after generative AI went mainstream.
For context, the entire US investment-grade corporate bond market typically sees around $1.3 trillion to $1.5 trillion in annual issuance across all sectors. AI-related debt alone could account for roughly a third of that total in 2026.
What investors should watch #
If AI revenue growth disappoints relative to the hundreds of billions being deployed, these companies will be servicing large debt loads on infrastructure that isn’t generating the expected returns. The bond market’s recent price softness suggests at least some investors are pricing in that possibility. With capex estimates already pointing past $1 trillion for 2027, the borrowing spree that caught Wall Street off guard in 2026 may end up looking like a warm-up act.
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