Microsoft priced $25 billion of bonds on October 29, in ten pieces running from 2028 to 2066, per its pricing term sheet. Its 40-year notes pay 6.35%. A day earlier we asked whether the biggest AI spenders would close the gap between capital spending and cash from operations by borrowing. They already are.
Amazon raised $48.1 billion of long-term debt in the third quarter and $115.1 billion in the first nine months of 2026, per its earnings release. Its long-term debt went from $65.6 billion at the end of 2025 to $173.1 billion on September 30. Free cash flow over the last twelve months was an outflow of $42.4 billion, after $77.3 billion of purchases of property and equipment in the third quarter alone. Amazon still expects about $220 billion of cash capital spending this year.
| Borrower | Amount | Price or terms | What stands behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | $25 billion of notes, October 29 | 4.85% for 2028 notes to 6.35% for 2066 notes | Microsoft's own credit |
| Amazon | $115.1 billion of long-term debt, nine months | not given in the release | Amazon's own credit |
| SpaceX | $40 billion, closed, per Musk | mostly callable GPU debt | the GPUs |
| Anthropic chip vehicle | $63 billion, about $43.5 billion first lien | not disclosed | leases to Anthropic, Broadcom residual value support |
| Volta, Norway | $5 billion, plus a $1.3 billion term loan | 11% or more expected | Anthropic as main tenant |
| CoreWeave 2032 notes | issued in June | about 14.5% yield in mid-October | CoreWeave, rated B+ |
Microsoft's prospectus says the money is for general corporate purposes, which can include capital spending, buybacks and acquisitions. It does not mention AI. Its cash capital spending doubled to $39.4 billion last quarter, and it still generated $18.6 billion of free cash flow, so this deal is a choice. Reports describe it as Microsoft's first large bond sale since 2017.
The rate tells you how comfortable lenders are. Across the eight fixed-rate tranches Microsoft's average coupon is about 5.6%, or about $1.3 billion a year on $23 billion. That is small against $58 billion of quarterly operating cash flow. The Amazon release gives no rate. At an assumed 5% average, its $173.1 billion of long-term debt would cost about $8.7 billion a year against $168.3 billion of trailing operating cash flow. The largest companies can carry this.
The structure changes further down. Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley are arranging about $43.5 billion of first-lien debt for a new vehicle that will buy Broadcom's accelerators and networking gear and lease them to Anthropic, with Blackstone in the second lien, Reuters reported. Deliveries start in 2027. Broadcom provides residual value support to the lenders, which Reuters describes as effectively a significant guarantee. It already backed up to $29 billion of an earlier $35 billion deal for Anthropic with Apollo and Blackstone. Moody's called Broadcom one of the strongest large technology companies and warned that the risk rises if several such transactions come in a short period.
Reuters gives no dollar figure for the new support. If it reaches the full first lien, Broadcom would be standing behind about $72.5 billion of debt for one customer. That customer's S-1 shows $131.7 billion of cash and short-term investments, and more than $600 billion of compute deals.
Musk said SpaceX closed $40 billion of debt to buy GPUs, mostly callable, CNBC reported. Anthropic's S-1 shows one customer for SpaceX's capacity. It has agreed to pay SpaceX's AI unit up to $120.5 billion, about $3.1 billion a month at full capacity, under contracts that can be cancelled on 90 days' notice after early 2027.
So the chain runs like this. Lenders fund SpaceX's chips, and SpaceX rents capacity to Anthropic on a contract shorter than the debt may be. Broadcom's balance sheet sits behind Anthropic's chip lease. Who holds the risk if AI revenue slows? Mostly the middle of that chain.
Bottom Line
For Microsoft and Amazon, AI debt is a financing choice with plenty of cash flow behind it. The risk now sits with the backstops and the short contracts: Broadcom's residual value support and SpaceX's 90-day cancellation clause. If you lend to, or buy compute from, the middle of this chain, read the termination terms first.