Meta, OpenAI expand AI investments Funding structures grow more complex (bloomingbit.io)

Big tech and AI startups are tapping increasingly complex financing to fund massive data centers and GPU purchases, creating what analysts call “Frankenstein finance.” Meta’s Hyperion project used a Binye Investor JV (Blue Owl bought ~80% for ~$3B, Meta kept 20%) that issued $27B of bonds (PIMCO bought ~$18B) at ~6.58%—with lease payments from the data center routed to service bondholders while Meta retains a four‑year termination option backed by a guarantee clause that effectively reinsures investors. OpenAI’s Stargate (built by Vantage, leased long‑term by Oracle) used a bank‑led project finance syndicate (JPMorgan/MUFG plus 30+ banks) under the “Jacquard” deal; loan yields were about 6.4% and portions were resold to spread risk. xAI is using an SPV (Valo Compute Infrastructure) to buy ~300,000 NVIDIA GPUs (~$18B) that investors own while xAI leases them—shifting obsolescence and balance‑sheet debt to investors. These structures let companies scale AI infrastructure while lowering on‑balance sheet debt and aligning investor returns to rent and potential asset appreciation. But they also concentrate leverage, create circular dependencies between chip makers and customers, and embed implicit guarantees that can amplify losses if demand softens. For the AI/ML community this means faster capacity growth and access to capital now, but higher systemic risk later: asset‑backed leases and bond issuance could be among the first market segments to break if an AI downturn arrives.