OpenAI’s data centre partners are on course to amass almost $100bn in borrowing tied to the lossmaking start-up, as the ChatGPT maker benefits from a debt-fuelled spending spree without taking on financial risks itself. SoftBank, Oracle and CoreWeave have borrowed at least $30bn to invest in the start-up or help build its data centres, according to FT analysis. Investment group Blue Owl Capital and computing infrastructure companies such as Crusoe also rely on deals with OpenAI to service about $28bn in loans. A group of banks is in talks to lend another $38bn for Oracle and data centre builder Vantage to fund further sites for OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks. OpenAI executives have said they plan to raise substantial debt to help pay for these contracts, but so far the financial burden has fallen to its counterparties and their lenders.

Full analysis : OpenAI’s data center partners are set to rack up nearly $100B in debt; sources say banks may lend another $38B to Oracle and Vantage to build more OpenAI sites.