Anthropic’s $71B Chip Debt Hides From IPO Investors

On August 7, 2026, Algorand (ALGO) recorded a 24-hour price increase of 3.67%, reaching $0.0902. The asset demonstrated a 7-day gain of 5.36% and a 1-month rise of 14.85%, contrasting with an 18.1% decline over the past year. This recent upward trajectory coincides with significant developments in the artificial intelligence hardware sector, particularly regarding Anthropic’s strategic infrastructure investments.

Anthropic’s Strategic Pivot to In-House Chip Design

Anthropic has officially launched an in-house team dedicated to custom AI chip development, marking a shift in its hardware strategy. The company clarified that it maintains a multi-chip approach, continuing to utilize infrastructure from AWS, Google, Nvidia, and AMD. No timeline was provided for the completion of a proprietary part, nor did the company confirm plans for manufacturing. Reports from July regarding talks with Samsung for a custom chip were not confirmed as manufacturing agreements.

The initiative represents primarily a hiring plan and a design philosophy shift rather than an immediate break from the existing supply chain. Anthropic has previously secured custom silicon through partnerships with Google and Broadcom. In April, the company expanded its agreement with Google and Broadcom for approximately 3.5 gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity, scheduled to come online from 2027. This builds upon a gigawatt of capacity already arriving in 2026 under a Google Cloud agreement signed the previous October. Broadcom supplies the custom TPUs and has committed to providing networking and other components for Google’s next-generation AI racks through 2031.

The financial foundation for these hardware investments is substantial. Anthropic’s run-rate revenue has surpassed $30 billion, a significant increase from approximately $9 billion at the end of 2025. The company now serves more than one thousand business customers, each spending over $1 million annually. Krishna Rao, Anthropic’s chief financial officer, described the compute commitment as the company’s most significant to date, driven by exponential growth in its customer base. Tripling revenue in a year has made ambitious chip programs financially viable.

The pressure to control hardware costs is driven by the sheer volume of tokens processed daily. At a $30 billion run-rate revenue level, the cost per token is directly influenced by the hardware Anthropic utilizes. By moving toward in-house design, the company aims to optimize this arithmetic, reducing reliance on external hardware providers for future scaling.

Off-Balance-Sheet Financing Structures

To support this aggressive expansion, Anthropic has utilized special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to secure $71 billion in chip-lease debt over a 60-day period. This structure allows the company to scale compute capacity without the drag of hardware depreciation on its primary financial statements. The deals are arranged by Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Credit and Insurance.

A critical component of this financing is a credit enhancement provided by Broadcom. In a $35 billion deal closed in June 2026, the SPV acquires Google’s tensor processing units and leases them back to Anthropic. Senior tranches, including approximately $6 billion in Senior A1 notes and $24 billion in Senior A2 notes, carry a Broadcom endorsement. This endorsement allows these tranches to functionally carry Broadcom’s investment-grade credit rating. A $4.5 billion Class B tranche, lacking Broadcom support, trades at a higher spread, highlighting the value of the backstop. This mechanism provides access to private credit for a company with an annualized revenue run rate of $19 billion against estimated compute spending of $45 billion per year.

Market Context and Investor Implications

The market is closely monitoring Anthropic’s planned October 2026 IPO debut. A confidential S-1 was filed on June 1 with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan leading the underwriting. The public-market valuation is expected to anchor at the $965 billion post-money established by its $65 billion Series H raise. It is crucial to distinguish between the equity capital raised for corporate operations and the debt raised against hardware via SPVs. The SPV debt remains structurally invisible to public-market investors evaluating the equity story.

Broader industry trends also reflect this surge in AI capital expenditure. Analysts note that companies like AMD and Marvell Technology are gaining attention as hyperscalers seek optionality in their supply chains. Marvell is positioning itself to absorb a disproportionate amount of AI capex by focusing on custom XPU silicon and optical interconnects, a strategy that underscores the industry-wide shift toward specialized hardware infrastructure.