American companies have sold more investment-grade bonds this year than in any year on record, as the world’s largest technology groups borrow heavily to pay for their race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.
US investment-grade corporate bond issuance has reached $1.88 trillion so far this year, according to LSEG data, passing the previous annual record of $1.86 trillion set in 2020, when companies stockpiled cash during the pandemic. Issuance is up 18.7% on a year ago, measured to 4 November.
The record has been driven by a small number of very large borrowers. Amazon and Alphabet top the list of companies that have raised the most money by selling bonds this year. Together with Meta, Microsoft and Oracle, the leading “hyperscalers” have raised more than $370.7 billion — roughly a fifth of all US investment-grade issuance so far this year.
Apple became the latest technology giant to tap the market this week, raising about $7.5 billion from a seven-part US-dollar bond offering, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
Fewer deals have been struck than last year — the number of issues fell about 4% to 1,084 — but the average deal has grown to roughly $1.7 billion from about $1.4 billion a year ago, reflecting a string of jumbo transactions by the largest borrowers.
Investors have so far absorbed the flood of new debt without difficulty. “The market has absorbed the AI issuance and it is evident from the oversubscribed nature of the deals,” Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments, said. “The AI companies do not seem to be slowing down in coming to both the USD and Euro bond markets.”
But the borrowing binge is drawing closer scrutiny. The prospect of higher interest rates is adding to concerns about how quickly the huge spending on data centres and chips will translate into profits, and whether heavily indebted companies can generate returns fast enough to service mounting interest costs.
The cost of insuring against default at some of the biggest AI spenders has surged in recent months. Oracle’s five-year credit default swap spread hit a record 325.45 basis points last month, and Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia and Meta also set records, though well below Oracle’s level.
The Democratic sweep in this week’s US midterm elections has added to the unease, sparking concerns about tougher AI regulation and a possible slowdown in the data-centre buildout. Goldman Sachs analysts flagged delayed AI monetisation and growth in purchase commitments as key risks to further debt issuance, in a note published on Friday.
Goldman expects about 35% of hyperscalers’ capital expenditure to be funded through bond issuance in 2027, roughly in line with this year’s levels — suggesting the borrowing is set to continue even as investors ask harder questions about the returns.
This story is based on a single source, Reuters, reporting LSEG data.
Sources: Reuters — “Big Tech drives US corporate bond sales to annual record high, data shows” (https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/big-tech-drives-us-corporate-bond-sales-annual-record-high-data-shows-2026-11-06/)
