Goldman Sachs Asset Management is preparing to lead a privately placed $6.6bn chip-backed debt package to finance the purchase of GPUs for OpenAI, supported by a backstop from semiconductor giant Nvidia, 9fin sources said.
Such chip-backed financings are streaming into every corner of credit markets, including broadly syndicated loans and even investment-grade debt as tech companies look to raise billions of dollars to support the capital-intensive buildout of AI infrastructure.
One source familiar with the proposed GSAM transaction said it could feature amortization, which is typical in GPU-backed financings because of uncertainty around the long-term residual value of such tech collateral. Arrangers are also likely to target insurance company-backed investors as participants in the deal, the source said.
For example, Lambda priced a $926m GPU-backed term loan B due 2030 this month with Nvidia as a counterparty. That loan had a favorable amortization schedule, sources told 9fin at the time.
More GPU-backed financings are likely to come, 9fin reported, after Nvidia announced on 10 August that it signed memorandums of understanding with major financial partners that lined up over $500bn in third-party capital to back the construction of AI infrastructure and purchase Nvidia hardware.
Goldman Sachswas...
