Anthropic ‘junk’ rating warning as Blackstone reverses course after $63bn chip deal
Anthropic, the AI company behind the chatbot Claude, is expected to receive a “junk” credit rating after it lists on the stock market, according to a report in the Financial Times on 30 October. The forecast comes from Blackstone, the investment firm backing a $63 billion deal to finance the computer chips Anthropic needs to run its AI systems.
Blackstone is the anchor investor in the financing, known as Project North Star, which is funding Anthropic’s lease of about 1.5 gigawatts of Google’s AI chips. More than $42 billion of senior loans in the deal are guaranteed by the chipmaker Broadcom, while about $18 billion of junior debt is backed by Anthropic’s lease payments. Blackstone itself has put about $9 billion into the junior debt, at yields above 10%.
The new forecast is a sharp change of tone. Blackstone had previously told investors that Anthropic would reach investment-grade status — the safer rating that marks a borrower as low risk — before 2027. It now expects a rating in the double-B range, the top tier of speculative grade, often called “junk”.
It is important to be clear about what has — and has not — happened. No credit rating agency has rated Anthropic yet. Moody’s, S&P and Fitch have not published a rating, and both Anthropic and Blackstone declined to comment. What the Financial Times reported is Blackstone’s own expectation, told to investors in the chip deal, not a formal rating decision.
Why it matters
A junk rating would make borrowing more expensive for Anthropic just as it takes on huge long-term commitments to buy computing power. It would also shrink the pool of buyers for its debt, because many pension funds and insurers are only allowed to hold limited amounts of sub-investment-grade bonds. The report landed days after Anthropic filed papers to go public on the Nasdaq, with a listing expected in mid-November. Its last private funding round valued the company at $965 billion.
What happens next
The real test comes after the listing, when Moody’s, S&P and Fitch publish their own ratings. Investors will also watch whether the rating affects the cost of Anthropic’s chip financing, and whether other AI companies face the same scrutiny over their spending.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/30/anthropic-expected-to-receive-high-junk-rating-from-credit-agencies-following-ipo-report-says/ (TechCrunch, 30 October 2026)
- https://dealroom.co/news/168608-blackstone-now-expects-anthropic-to-get-a-high-junk-credit-rating-after/ (Dealroom, 30 October 2026)
