Anthropic reportedly offers Blackstone 10% yield on $60B AI chip deal

Anthropic has reportedly offered Blackstone-managed funds a 10% coupon on $9 billion of junior debt inside a $60 billion Project North Star package to fund about 1.5 gigawatts of Google's AI chips, with fees and discounts lifting total yield above 10%, versus roughly 7% for similarly rated borrowers in public markets. The Financial Times reported the terms on October 16. The junior tranche is expected to total $18 billion, with about $42 billion in senior debt arranged or guaranteed by Broadcom and backed by five-year lease payments. Project Big Sky raised about $4.4 billion at 8.5% four months earlier. KBRA placed Anthropic one notch below investment grade in June. Drawdown is expected in 2027, with possible 144A bond market entry. CONTESTED: Reuters carried the report early on October 17 and said it could not immediately verify it; the parties had not confirmed the terms. Mark Levine sent a letter to Dario Amodei on Wednesday urging a pause in the IPO process and on Friday discussed pressure on Anthropic in a Bloomberg Television interview. Chamath Palihapitiya posted a chart calling the credit move a private-credit bubble; Elon Musk replied "Yikes." Blackstone shares closed Friday down 2.37% at $106.61.