Broadcom's AI Debt Backstops Push Credit Risk Higher

Bloomberg reports Broadcom's credit risk is rising as it backstops more than $60 billion in AI-chip financing, including guarantees for Anthropic. In August, Broadcom’s 5.15% bonds due 2031 rose about 14 basis points and its five-year CDS widened roughly 28 basis points, underscoring investor concerns that balance-sheet guarantees and other backstops create phantom leverage in the AI ecosystem. Analysts say the moves reflect Broadcom’s potential additional guarantees for chip-financing deals, following a prior $35 billion backstop with Apollo/Blackstone to lease AI chips to Anthropic.