Broadcom (AVGO) is arranging more than $50 billion in financing for the custom AI chips it’s building with OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Apollo (APO) and Blackstone (BX) are among the lenders Broadcom has approached. Talks are early, the size could change, and none of the companies has commented.
The chips fall under OpenAI’s “Nexus” program, part of the two companies’ October 2025 plan to deploy 10 gigawatts of custom accelerators by the end of 2029.
Broadcom’s Third Financing Package Since June
This isn’t a one-off. Broadcom has now pursued financing for both of its biggest AI lab customers:
- June: a $35 billion partnership with Apollo and Blackstone to expand Anthropic’s computing capacity.
- August–October: Bloomberg initially reported financing talks exceeding $60 billion. By October 5, banks had begun syndicating a $60 billion package for Anthropic, including $42 billion of senior debt backed by Broadcom and $18 billion of junior debt without its guarantees, the Financial Times reported.
- Now: more than $50 billion for OpenAI, whose chip project hit an $18 billion financing snag in May, according to The Information.
The completed $35 billion June financing, the reported $60 billion Anthropic package, and the proposed OpenAI financing of more than $50 billion together exceed $145 billion.
How Big $50 Billion Is for Broadcom
Broadcom’s revenue reached $89.1 billion over the last 12 months, up from $63.9 billion in fiscal 2025 and $35.8 billion in fiscal 2023. The OpenAI package alone equals about 56% of that.
Meanwhile, Broadcom’s own balance sheet is getting cleaner. Total debt fell from $68.9 billion in November 2024 to $59.4 billion in August 2026, while cash and short-term investments rose from $9.4 billion to $24.0 billion.
Broadcom is shrinking its own debt while its customers’ debt grows.
Whose Debt Is It?
That’s the catch. Special-purpose vehicles keep most of this borrowing off Broadcom’s books, but guarantees bring some of the risk back, and the WSJ didn’t say who borrows in the OpenAI deal.
The timing isn’t easy either. The 10-year Treasury yield hit a 24-year high of 5.326% on Wednesday, and Reuters reported that the wave of tech borrowing added to strain in sovereign bond markets. “The AI build-out started on cash,” deVere Group CEO Nigel Green told Reuters. “It’s increasingly running on credit, and credit changes the risk profile entirely.”
What to Watch for AVGO Stock
My view: financing has become part of the product. Nvidia (NVDA) runs the same playbook through its $500 billion-plus program with Apollo, Blackstone and others, and Oracle (ORCL) is in talks with Apollo and Goldman Sachs on its own chip deal. A custom chip that comes with funding is harder to walk away from.
The number to watch is whether Broadcom guarantees any of the OpenAI tranche. Without Broadcom guarantees, lenders would bear the debt’s credit risk, but the final purchase and financing terms would determine how firmly chip demand is secured. Guarantees would add to Broadcom’s existing exposure to customer financing.
So what is Broadcom stock actually worth?
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