Broadcom has agreed to lend artificial intelligence company Anthropic up to $42 billion to help finance its lease of AI chips, according to documents linked to Anthropic’s initial public offering (IPO). 

The arrangement highlights the increasingly close financial relationship between AI developers and the chip and infrastructure companies supplying the computing power needed to train and run advanced models.

The financing could cover roughly one-third of Anthropic’s $125.2 billion commitment to lease Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) computing capacity over five years. Anthropic has expanded its partnership with Broadcom and Google to access multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity starting in 2027.

Under the arrangement, Anthropic would issue convertible notes to Broadcom. The debt could potentially be converted into Anthropic equity, giving Broadcom an additional financial interest in the AI company. The deal forms part of a broader infrastructure strategy as Anthropic prepares for a potential public listing.

Anthropic’s infrastructure commitments are substantial. The company expects to spend at least $518 billion over the next decade on AI infrastructure, including arrangements with Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Broadcom. Around 80% of these commitments are reportedly non-cancellable or require payments regardless of actual usage.

Broadcom’s relationship with Anthropic goes beyond financing. In April, Anthropic announced an expanded agreement with Google and Broadcom covering multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity. Broadcom said Anthropic is expected to access around 3.5 gigawatts of this capacity from 2027.

The arrangement also reflects the enormous capital requirements of the AI industry. Companies developing large AI models are committing billions of dollars to computing infrastructure, while semiconductor and cloud companies are increasingly becoming closely linked to their customers’ growth plans.

For Broadcom, the deal could provide greater visibility into future AI-related demand while giving Anthropic access to financing for its large-scale computing requirements. However, Anthropic’s IPO filing also noted potential conflicts arising from Broadcom’s role in both financing infrastructure and supplying access to AI compute.

The development comes as Anthropic moves towards the public markets and seeks to scale its AI infrastructure rapidly to meet rising demand for its Claude models.

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