Anthropic's $63bn chip deal comes with $125.2bn in rent
Broadcom's support covers only the banks' first lien. Anthropic's S-1 shows it owes $125.2bn in rent regardless of what the chips are worth.
Four lenders arranged a $63bn financing to buy Broadcom chips for Anthropic. The S-1 filed the same day shows the bill: $125.2bn of rent.
The parties carry different levels of risk. Broadcom's residual value support covers only the first lien, the senior debt repaid first. Blackstone's second lien has no such cover, and Anthropic owes its rent whether or not the chips keep their value.
Who finances the chips
Announced on 26 October by Broadcom and Blackstone, the deal runs through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). That is a company created to hold one set of assets. The SPV buys Broadcom XPU accelerators and networking equipment to lease to Anthropic, with deliveries from calendar 2027.
The deal is part of an earlier compute agreement. In its 6 April 8-K, Broadcom said Anthropic would access about 3.5 gigawatts through it from 2027. It called that use "dependent on Anthropic's continued commercial success".
Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley arrange the first lien. Blackstone is the sole provider of the committed portion of the second lien. Broadcom gives the SPV residual value support equal to the first lien amount. In plain terms, it pays if the hardware is worth less than a set value at the end.
Broadcom does not lend the money. The SPV spends it on Broadcom's chips, so Broadcom is paid as the seller.
The rent commitments
Anthropic's S-1 holds the rent terms the press release left out. The 2026 Lease Arrangement with Broadcom carries rent of about $125.2bn over five years, excluding interest. Rent is paid quarterly once equipment is ready for service, and it cannot be cancelled except on default.
Across all Broadcom leases, rent is about $161.2bn. Anthropic, PBC guarantees the leases, and the leased equipment secures them.
Almost none of these lease obligations appears on the balance sheet. Finance lease liabilities were only $443m on 30 June, because leases that have not started stay off it. Nearly all of the rent is still to come.
The figures can be compared on an annual basis. Rent is the five year total divided by five: $25.0bn a year for the 2026 lease and $32.2bn for all Broadcom leases. Revenue and costs are the second quarter times four, which gives revenue of $46.2bn and compute and infrastructure expense of $22.2bn across every vendor.
Average yearly rent on the 2026 Broadcom lease, 25.0 billion dollars, exceeds Anthropic's second quarter 2026 compute and infrastructure expense multiplied by four, 22.2 billion, and equals 54 percent of second quarter revenue multiplied by four, 46.2 billion. Rent on all Broadcom leases averages 32.2 billion a year. Rent bars are five year totals divided by five.
View data
| Measure | Billions of dollars a year |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 revenue, annualised | 46.2 |
| Q2 2026 compute and infrastructure expense, annualised | 22.2 |
| 2026 Lease Arrangement, rent per year averaged over five years | 25 |
| All Broadcom leases, rent per year averaged over five years | 32.2 |
The rent on the 2026 lease alone is larger than that whole compute bill. It equals 54% of annualised revenue.
The $32.2bn figure includes capacity that began to come online in 2026, so it overlaps with today's bill. The rent on the 2026 lease adds a new cost from 2027.
The revenue side of that comparison is less certain. The S-1 says revenue is mostly consumption based and often carries no long term commitment, while compute commitments run for years. Anthropic must meet a fixed bill with variable income.
Broadcom also sits on both sides of Anthropic's lease. The S-1 calls it supplier and lessor and says it may alter the terms of the equipment lease. It also says Broadcom intends to assign the 2026 lease to a designated financial partner.
A default can trigger other debt obligations. Cross defaults under the lease obligations, the credit facility and the convertible notes could accelerate substantially all of Anthropic's debt. Anthropic also deposited cash in a restricted account for Broadcom in April 2026. That cash may be released or applied toward lease obligations, and more may be required in some circumstances.
Growth and the rent backstop
Anthropic's growth supports its ability to pay. Second quarter revenue of $11.555bn was 14.7 times the $787m of a year earlier. Operating income was $974m, an 8% margin.
Its cash balance offers support too. Cash and short term investments were $131.7bn on 30 June. Six month operating cash flow was only $3.9bn, against $110.8bn of financing inflows. A $25bn annual rent looks manageable against that cash.
The rent is fixed for five years, however, and access to the backstop depends on growth rather than the cash balance. A $42.0bn convertible note facility can be used solely to finance quarterly rent. Interest is 9.00% a year, paid in kind, meaning it is added to the principal.
After a listing, Broadcom can convert the notes into non voting stock at 90% of the 30 day average price. The notes are secured on a junior basis by the collateral behind the lease.
Anthropic can draw the notes only while it meets conditions. One is revenue growth rates "significantly below our actual revenue growth rates during all quarters of 2025 and thus far in 2026". Minimum liquidity and performance under the leases also count. The right to issue notes ends if the conditions fail for a sustained period.
The terms specify the cost of missing those conditions. If revenue conditions are not met, interest rises to 13.00% and conversion is at 85%. On a change of control, the holder can take cash equal to 150% of principal and accrued interest.
The facility is therefore cheap while Anthropic grows, but offers less support when growth falters. Together with Google's $20.0bn and Amazon's $15.0bn facilities, $77.0bn was available and none was drawn on 30 June. Anthropic's cloud commitments to Microsoft, Google and Amazon carry separate terms.
What lenders are betting on
Each layer of financing is priced against a different risk. The second lien and the convertible are claims on one customer's revenue, so they trade on Anthropic's growth, not on the chips. The first lien is a Broadcom credit with residual value support, so it trades off Broadcom.
Hock Tan said the deal "validates that there is capital available to finance such growth and that Broadcom is uniquely positioned to enable it."
The same day, Yahoo Finance reported that Meta said Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom had expressed interest in buying up to $5bn of its new shares. Chip suppliers are becoming financiers of their own demand.
The next test is the filing amendment. Anthropic's S-1 sets its price range, share counts and run rate revenue as of 31 October, so the amendment that fills them can only come after that date. Run rate revenue of $50bn or more, against the $46bn annualised second quarter level, would put the $25bn average rent below half of revenue.