Recently, OpenAI's data center partners are accumulating massive debt, with the total amount of loans related to this startup expected to approach $100 billion. Although this financial pressure weighs heavily on the partners, OpenAI is benefiting from this funding game without taking on any financial risk.
Scale of funds: SoftBank, Oracle, CoreWeave, and others have already borrowed at least $30 billion to invest in OpenAI-related data centers; infrastructure companies such as Blue Owl and Crusoe are repaying about $28 billion in loans through orders with OpenAI; a new $38 billion syndicated loan is also on the way, bringing total debt close to $100 billion.
Risk distribution: OpenAI, which is currently losing money, has almost zero debt, with a $4 billion credit line still unused; construction financing, interest rate risks, and asset depreciation are all borne by the partners and lending institutions, forming a "OpenAI orders, partners pay" leverage model.
Background and motivation: OpenAI has committed to a $1.4 trillion computing power purchase contract over the next eight years, corresponding to more than 36GW capacity, and urgently needs data centers and chips to be in place quickly; the shortage of computing power is seen as the biggest bottleneck limiting its user growth and model iteration.
Market impact: The massive debt flowing into AI infrastructure has raised concerns on Wall Street about the risks of "reliance on a single customer + high leverage"; if OpenAI's revenue does not meet expectations, CoreWeave, which is highly indebted, and Oracle, which has many projects, may face cash flow pressure first.
In short, OpenAI is outsourcing an unprecedentedly capital-intensive infrastructure task to the balance sheets of its partners, keeping its own balance sheet light and focusing on contract commitments, continuing to expand globally and build AI computing hubs driven by debt.
