A consortium of 10 banks is reportedly providing a substantial US$22 billion chip loan to support Crux AI, the new cloud venture established by global investment firm Blackstone and tech giant Alphabet. Bloomberg News reported the development on Wednesday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Crux AI is a cloud business formed to meet the escalating global demand for artificial intelligence computing services, specifically focusing on offering cutting-edge AI infrastructure.
Among the financial institutions contributing to the significant debt facility are Goldman Sachs Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Barclays, BNP Paribas SA, and Bank of Nova Scotia. This venture, first announced in May, sees Blackstone committing an initial US$5 billion in equity. This investment aims to bring 500 megawatts of data centre capacity online by 2027, with plans for further expansion beyond this initial phase. The move highlights the broader industry trend of technology companies ramping up capital expenditure on data centres, power infrastructure, and specialised chips necessary to power advanced AI applications.
The substantial debt package is specifically earmarked for the purchase of Google’s custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). According to the report, the loan will be secured by the intrinsic value of these highly specialised chips, alongside Crux AI’s anticipated customer contracts. Representatives from Blackstone, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, BNP, Barclays, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment regarding the financing.
