Anthropic's BB+ Rating Says "Almost There" While Banks Queue Up $60B Worth of Hugs 🤝

Anthropic has secured a BB+ credit rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency as Wall Street lenders prepare roughly $60 billion in financing to back the Claude developer's growing custom AI chip infrastructure. Reports on October 16 confirmed that KBRA assigned the rating in June, placing the company one notch below investment grade with a positive outlook. The BB+ grade covers approximately $4.4 billion in subordinated debt inside a $35 billion financing package led by Apollo Global Management, while Broadcom guarantees the remaining senior portion of the facility. The subordinated piece carried an 8.5% interest rate, versus 5.75% on the senior debt, reflecting the additional credit risk absorbed by junior lenders. KBRA based its assessment on limited financial disclosures, including revenue, adjusted operating income and internal forecasts, and relied on a risk scoring system rather than a full financial model because complete data was unavailable.

Anthropic reported $16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue alongside its second consecutive quarter of adjusted profitability. Separately, a proposed $60 billion financing arrangement is being organized by major banks to support Anthropic's purchase of custom AI chips. That package includes $18 billion in subordinated debt tied to computing infrastructure, with the senior tranches expected to attract broad syndicate participation. The combined activity follows the June reopening of the $35 billion deal, in which Blackstone and other participating banks rejoined the arrangement alongside Apollo. Specific terms of the chip-financing facility, including final size, pricing and lead arrangers, remain under discussion as the company works toward a public market debut.