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BIS says most money going into AI firms comes from other AI firms

A new bulletin maps a financing loop in which suppliers bankroll their own customers, as Broadcom and Nvidia extend credit into the build-out.

Assembled by Claude from 14 sources at 13 outlets · Saturday, October 3, 2026, Morning edition, 10:25 AM EDT · no human byline

Disclosure. This item was assembled by an AI from the RSS excerpts of the outlets tagged inline. No human wrote or checked it before publication. Feed selection and categories are editorial choices by Teresa Lo. Nothing here is investment advice.

What the BIS found

A study from the Bank for International Settlements found that 55.2% of incoming investment into AI firms between 2021 and 2025 came from other AI firms cryptobriefing.comcryptobriefing.com. The bulletin maps what Crypto Briefing described as a tightly looped financing web in which suppliers often bankroll their own customers cryptobriefing.com. MarketScreener summarised the same work with the rounder figure of AI being 55% financed in a closed loop marketscreener.com. The study notes that these links can secure key inputs but also concentrate risks, and make the sector harder to read ground.news. The BIS warned of potential macroeconomic risks stemming from circular relationships among AI companies interest.co.nz.

Suppliers as lenders

Broadcom is reported to be lending Anthropic $42 billion to lease chips, which Semafor framed as chipmakers financing the build-out that drives demand for their own products semafor.comqz.com. Newsquawk put the sum higher, reporting that Broadcom is amassing $60 billion to fund chips for Anthropic newsquawk.com. Quartz noted that the arrangement involves Anthropic equity, and comes against a Pentagon designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk qz.com.

Nvidia is making the same case in public. Chief executive Jensen Huang has said he wants to make the company's compute 'an investable infrastructure asset' rather than rely on more conventional funding calcalistech.com. TheStreet described Nvidia putting $500 billion on the table as a challenge to banking as currently practised, with Huang's argument being that chips have become an investable asset thestreet.com. Calcalist reported that the $500 billion financing plan has met a Wall Street reality check calcalistech.com.

Where the debt is sitting

The borrowing is also leaving balance sheets. A Globe and Mail commentary counted hyperscaler borrowing projected to reach $250 billion in the US alone as one of two types of debt fuelling the boom theglobeandmail.com. A separate analysis noted that a $420 billion capex forecast excludes a large chunk of special purpose financing, with AI's financing boom moving off balance sheet thedarksideoftheboom.substack.com. The Information reported that high-yield bond exchange-traded funds from managers including State Street and Charles Schwab now count debt tied to leased AI data centre capacity theinformation.com.

The BIS has warned that the US pace could end in an 'investment bust', while ECB data shows Europe is not borrowing to fund AI, a lag that still worries European economists cryptopolitan.com. For investors, the practical point is that supplier credit and off-balance-sheet vehicles make the sector's leverage harder to see from headline capital spending alone ground.newsthedarksideoftheboom.substack.comtheinformation.com.

Sources

  1. ground.news: BIS Finds 55.2% of AI Funding Comes From Other AI Firms - Ground News (2026-10-03)
  2. cryptobriefing.com: OpenAI's Altman reaffirms close partnership with Cerebras - Crypto Briefing (2026-10-02)
  3. cryptobriefing.com: BIS finds 55.2% of AI funding comes from other AI firms - Crypto Briefing (2026-10-02)
  4. interest.co.nz: Circular relationships among AI firms could amplify risks | interest.co.nz (2026-10-02)
  5. marketscreener.com: AI is 55% financed in a closed loop - MarketScreener (2026-10-02)
  6. cryptopolitan.com: Prudence or handicap? ECB data shows Europe isn't borrowing to fund AI - Cryptopolitan (2026-10-02)
  7. semafor.com: Broadcom to lend Anthropic $42 billion to lease chips: Report (2026-10-01)
  8. qz.com: Broadcom to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion in chip deal - Quartz (2026-10-03)
  9. newsquawk.com: Broadcom (AVGO) is amassing USD 60bln to fun chips for Anthropic - Newsquawk (2026-10-02)
  10. thedarksideoftheboom.substack.com: AI's Financing Boom Is Moving Off Balance Sheet — And Credit Is Starting to Smell the Smoke (2026-10-03)
  11. theglobeandmail.com: Before AI can kill us the bubble will burst - The Globe and Mail (2026-10-03)
  12. calcalistech.com: Nvidia's $500 billion AI financing plan gets a Wall Street reality check | Ctech (2026-10-03)
  13. thestreet.com: Nvidia puts $500 billion on the table, challenges banking as we know it - TheStreet (2026-10-02)
  14. theinformation.com: AI Data Center Debt Is Showing Up Everywhere - The Information (2026-10-02)