OpenAI’s partners have taken on nearly $100 billion in debt to support the company’s ambitious AI development plans

OpenAI is growing very fast, but most of the money needed for this growth is not coming from the company itself. Instead, OpenAI’s partners — like Oracle, SoftBank, and CoreWeave — are taking huge loans to support it.

According to the Financial Times, companies building data centers and supplying hardware to OpenAI now have almost $100 billion in debt, even though OpenAI itself has taken on almost no debt.

SoftBank, Oracle, and CoreWeave have already borrowed over $30 billion to invest in OpenAI or to build data centers for it. Another $28 billion has been borrowed by groups like Blue Owl Capital and infrastructure companies such as Crusoe, whose ability to repay depends on contracts with OpenAI, the Times of India reported.

Banks are also talking about arranging another $38 billion in loans for Oracle and Vantage Data Centers so they can build even more facilities for OpenAI.

This is surprising because OpenAI has promised to spend $1.4 trillion over the next eight years, while its expected revenue for this year is only $20 billion. A senior OpenAI executive told the FT that the company’s strategy is basically to grow by using other people’s money.

Even with all this, OpenAI has taken on very little debt itself. It has a $4 billion credit line but hasn’t used it. Many of the loans taken by partners are set up in special financial structures that protect investors. Some loans are non-recourse, meaning if they cannot be paid back, the lenders take the loss — not the borrowing companies.

Oracle is taking the biggest financial risk. Since it announced a $300 billion deal with OpenAI in September, Oracle’s market value has dropped by $315 billion. Analysts expect Oracle to borrow $100 billion over the next four years to meet its commitments to OpenAI.

The FT also says that a lot of this financing creates circular money flow — partners give money to OpenAI, and then OpenAI spends that same money back on their hardware and services.

In total, the $100 billion in debt connected to OpenAI is equal to the combined net debt of six of the world’s largest companies, including Volkswagen and Toyota.