Tech companies and AI firms are increasingly using special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to finance data center infrastructure and GPU acquisitions. These off-balance-sheet structures allow companies to secure hardware while keeping debt off their primary financial statements, with total identified or processed volume reaching approximately $300 billion.
Private credit firms, including Blackstone and Apollo Global Management, are the primary financiers for these arrangements. Notable examples include Alphabet, which saw its data-center guarantees rise from $16.9 billion to $43.8 billion over six months, and Anthropic, which accumulated $71 billion in chip-leasing debt within 60 days by August 2026.
Amazon is currently exploring an $8 billion SPV to acquire and lease back Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips. Meanwhile, Nvidia launched a financing platform in August 2026 aiming to attract over $500 billion in third-party capital to support similar chip-backed deals across the industry.
Market participants have raised concerns regarding the collateral backing these loans. Because AI hardware depreciates rapidly, there is a risk that the value of GPUs held in SPVs may fall significantly below the debt they secure if a borrower defaults, potentially impacting long-term recovery for lenders.
