Broadcom lends Anthropic $42 billion to rent chips Broadcom builds with Google

Broadcom has agreed to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion, closing a circular arrangement: the funds are earmarked for renting AI chips that Broadcom itself co-develops with Google. The loan covers roughly one-third of the five-year, $125.2 billion lease Anthropic signed, and the debt may later convert into equity. Broadcom may bring in an additional financing partner, though Anthropic says it has no plans to sell the notes before an initial public offering.

The move mirrors Nvidia’s playbook — using the balance sheet to drive chip adoption. Broadcom already guarantees $35 billion of senior debt in a vehicle set up by Apollo and Blackstone that also leases chips to Anthropic. Broadcom expects Anthropic to become its largest compute customer by 2027, meaning much of the capital now flowing out as a loan is projected to return as compute-revenue.

Anthropic does not ignore the conflict. The company explicitly warned that Broadcom’s dual role as chip supplier and lender creates “potential conflicts of interest” that could affect its access to compute. When the creditor also controls chip availability and pricing, the customer’s room to maneuver shrinks considerably.

The deal illustrates how the AI market is beginning to finance its own growth: infrastructure providers inject capital into their largest customers to lock in long-term demand, and those customers accept terms that constrain future flexibility. Convertible debt gives the lender an option on the upside; the borrower gets cash-flow breathing room at the cost of future encumbrance.