Broadcom to Lend Anthropic Up to $42 Billion to Lease Its Chips, IPO Filing Shows

AVGO has agreed to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion to finance its infrastructure and chip-lease spending, according to Anthropic's IPO prospectus as reported exclusively by Reuters on Thursday. The financing takes the form of convertible notes that can convert into Anthropic equity, and Broadcom may designate a financing partner to share the exposure. Anthropic said in the filing that it does not expect any notes to be sold before its IPO completes. Broadcom did not comment, and Anthropic declined to comment.

The facility is sized to cover roughly one-third of the $125.2 billion Anthropic has committed under a five-year agreement for tensor processing unit (TPU) computing capacity. Reuters reported that Anthropic is expected to become Broadcom's largest compute customer in 2027, and set the deal against Broadcom's existing projection of about $115 billion in AI semiconductor revenue in fiscal 2027 and roughly $230 billion in fiscal 2028. Put plainly, the chip designer is lending its customer the money to rent its chips, a structure critics have already labeled circular financing.

The prospectus itself flags the tension. It describes "potential conflicts of interest" arising from Broadcom's dual role as hardware supplier and lender, and warns that certain payment or performance defaults could make a substantial portion of Anthropic's lease obligations immediately due while limiting its ability to draw on the $42 billion facility. Anthropic also deposited cash into a restricted account for Broadcom's benefit in April 2026 and may have to contribute more in some cases.

For Broadcom shareholders, the arrangement locks in a marquee AI customer before Anthropic's IPO prices, but it also puts Broadcom's balance sheet behind the same demand it is counting on for revenue growth. Broadcom shares were down about 1.1% in Thursday trading. Points to watch: final pricing and conversion terms of the notes, whether a financing partner takes on part of the commitment, and how much of the TPU commitment Anthropic can fund from IPO proceeds rather than vendor credit.