OpenAI could be in trouble or at least its data center partners may be. OpenAI’s data center partners are on course to amass almost $100 billion (€86.4 billion) in borrowing tied to the loss-making startup, as the ChatGPT maker benefits from a debt-fuelled spending spree without taking on financial risks itself.
OpenAI said: “Building AI infrastructure is the single most important thing we can do to meet surging global demand … The current compute shortage is the single biggest constraint on OpenAI’s ability to grow.”
OpenAI executives have said they plan to raise substantial debt to help pay for these contracts, but so far the financial burden has fallen to its counterparties and their lenders.
“That’s been kind of the strategy,” said a senior OpenAI executive. “How does [OpenAI] leverage other people’s balance sheets?”
In 2025, OpenAI secured one of the largest funding rounds in tech history, attracting major global investors and solidifying its position as a leading AI company. The round, reportedly worth around $40 billion, valued OpenAI at approximately $300 billion. Key investors included SoftBank, which led the round, Thrive Capital, and long-term partner Microsoft. The funding enabled OpenAI to scale compute infrastructure, advance AI research, and develop more powerful AI models while maintaining competitiveness in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
READ: OpenAI CEO says upcoming product will be more ‘peaceful’ and ‘calm’ than the iPhone (
In addition to the primary investment, a secondary share sale by employees later in 2025 resulted in an implied valuation of roughly $500 billion, reflecting strong investor confidence in the company’s potential. These investments highlight the global belief in OpenAI’s technology and its ability to transform industries, driving innovation and shaping the future of artificial intelligence worldwide.
The San Francisco-based startup, which recently became the world’s most valuable private company worth $500 billion, believes it needs even more capital to fund data centres, chips and power in its push to create “artificial general intelligence” – systems that surpass human abilities.
This strategy of leveraging external balance sheets allows OpenAI to scale quickly without directly assuming proportionate financial risk. However, it raises questions about the long-term sustainability for its infrastructure partners and lenders, who seem to be shouldering much of the financial exposure.
READ: Amazon fires back in the AI race with OpenAI’s $38B partnership (
As demand for AI continues to surge, ensuring the stability of both OpenAI and its ecosystem of partners will be crucial. The company’s ability to balance aggressive expansion with responsible financial management will likely determine whether its ambitious vision for advanced AI is sustainable or comes with unforeseen economic consequences.
The $100 billion of bonds, bank loans and private credit deals tied to OpenAI are equivalent to the net debt directly held by the six largest corporate borrowers in the world — including carmakers Volkswagen and Toyota and telecoms groups AT&T and Comcast — according to a 2024 report by asset manager Janus Henderson.
If OpenAI’s partners encounter difficulties in managing such large debt obligations, there could be ripple effects across the broader tech and financial sectors, affecting lenders and other companies exposed to AI infrastructure projects.
Monitoring the health of OpenAI’s data center partners and their ability to service debt will be critical, as any disruption in compute capacity or financial stability could directly impact OpenAI’s operations and the broader AI ecosystem.