Morgan Stanley projects AI debt issuance to hit $570B in 2026

AI Firms Drive Record Bond Issuance as Wall Street Mobilizes to Finance Infrastructure Boom

The global debt markets are being reshaped by an unprecedented wave of borrowing tied to artificial intelligence, with Morgan Stanley projecting AI-related debt issuance will more than double to nearly $570 billion in 2026 as hyperscalers tap every available funding channel to meet surging capital expenditure demands.thestandard

A Flood of Tech Debt

As of May 31, AI-related global debt issuance had already reached $236 billion — a fourfold increase over the same period last year, according to Morgan Stanley’s report published this week. Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Oracle have collectively issued a record $159 billion in bonds so far this year to fund AI infrastructure, accounting for 18% of all U.S. corporate debt issuance in 2026.indexbox

The borrowing spree is increasingly global. Amazon completed a record C$14 billion Canadian-dollar bond offering on June 8, surpassing Alphabet’s C$8.5 billion deal set just last month. Reuters reported that from Europe to Japan and Switzerland, Big Tech bond issues are proving that smaller markets can punch above their weight in the $40 trillion corporate debt landscape.ttnews

CoreWeave Expands to Europe

CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure provider that went public last year, is now looking to tap European high-yield markets. The company held calls with European investors on Tuesday to discuss potential dollar- and euro-denominated bond issuances, with JPMorgan Chase managing the discussions. CoreWeave raised $2 billion in high-yield bonds in May 2025 and has continued to expand its debt financing as it builds out GPU-powered data centers.bloomberg

Overheating Concerns Mount

Not everyone is comfortable with the pace of issuance. Fidelity disclosed in a midyear assessment on June 3 that it is shifting its main bond investments away from the surge of new tech debt, arguing that investors are no longer sufficiently compensated for the risks involved.forbes

Oracle’s aggressive debt strategy has drawn particular scrutiny. The company raised $25 billion in a single bond offering in February as part of a $50 billion financing plan, but its bonds have at times traded at spreads more typical of junk-rated credits despite its investment-grade rating. UBS projected earlier this year that global tech and AI-related debt issuance could reach $990 billion in 2026 when M&A financing is included.ifre

Morgan Stanley expects the pace to accelerate in the second half of the year, with hyperscaler capital expenditure on track to surpass $1 trillion in 2027.thestandard