Blackstone expects Anthropic to get high junk rating after IPO, FT says
For the chief risk officer at a large US bank
Blackstone told investors in a $63 billion deal financing Anthropic's chips that it expects the AI lab to receive a "high" junk rating after its IPO, the Financial Times reported, as relayed by TechCrunch on Oct. 30.1
TechCrunch, citing the FT, said Blackstone is the anchor investor in the deal and had previously said Anthropic would receive an investment-grade rating, which indicates low risk for lenders, before 2027.1 The sources did not say why Blackstone changed its view, and the FT's original report was not among the sources reviewed.1
Blackstone now expects a double B range rating, the top tier of speculative "junk" grade, according to the reporting.1
TechCrunch said it asked Anthropic and Blackstone for comment and both declined.1
TechCrunch reported that Anthropic officially filed to go public earlier this week, and that the company has been racking up large compute power deals over the past 12 months, which TechCrunch said has worried investors.1
TechCrunch described Blackstone's forecast as a prediction and said a high junk rating would make it more difficult and costlier for Anthropic to raise money to fund its spending.1
Lenders and investors in large AI compute financings may have priced debt on an assumption of investment-grade credit, so a lower expected rating could raise refinancing costs and tighten terms on similar deals. Banks with exposure to AI infrastructure lending should check how their credit assumptions compare with a forecast from an anchor investor in the deal.
Our take. The anchor of a $63 billion chip financing now expects BB for the borrower, not investment grade. Any AI-lab exposure booked on the earlier promise needs its risk rating reopened before the agencies reopen it for you.
Action. Credit risk: Re-grade AI-lab and compute-financing exposures assuming BB, not investment grade, and recheck hold limits and capital treatment.
What our records say
Anthropic sells banks Claude seats and API access directly and through cloud marketplaces, and in 2026 added embedded engineering with Goldman Sachs and FIS.1 Goldman Sachs offers Claude to staff in the GS AI assistant and is developing Claude-based agents for trade accounting and client onboarding with embedded Anthropic engineers (February 2026).2
From our records
- Claude (Anthropic)vendor · banks using it (21) Goldman, JPMorgan, BankUnited · alternatives Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Gemini Enterprise