In order to stay competitive, global tech companies have borrowed an unprecedented $489 billion as the AI wave takes over daily operations. According to an analysis by Morgan Stanley, global AI debt issuance could reach almost $570 billion by the end of 2026, more than double from the same investments made last year.
These investments are not just in data centers, LLMs or by leading tech giants, they represent all companies in the ecosystem, representing AI infrastructure providers, enablers and custom solutions providers. According to data by Goldman Sachs, about 40% of the issuances came from AI infrastructure majors Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle; the rest came from data center developers, AI infrastructure firms and other players in the technology ecosystem.
Today, AI-related debt now accounts for almost 23% of the US dollar investment-grade issuances and 20% of its high-yield supplies.
The AI-led boom first began as an equity story, with leading AI providers like Nvidia and TSMC reaching trillion-dollar valuations driven by increasing investor hope in the sector. Today, that hope has moved on to the debt markets, with companies betting on AI-led solutions to improve productivity, lower costs and boost their standing in the market.
Though there are already concerns that this AI wave could become an AI bubble, the credit market is witnessing a sea of change, and this could be the first to get affected if the AI solutions don’t work as expected.
