Money, Not Chips, Is the AI Bottleneck, in a Bite

Two chip chief executives named the same constraint on the AI buildout this week, and it was money.

• Broadcom’s Hock Tan said financing could become a bigger obstacle than shortages of chips, memory or power. Intel’s Lip-Bu Tan pointed at the cost of capital and at the wait for proof of returns.
• Broadcom has arranged more than $145 billion of financing for its two biggest AI customers since June, including a reported package above $50 billion for OpenAI’s custom accelerators. It backs $42 billion of a $60 billion package for Anthropic.
• The pattern is vendor-backed debt. Nvidia runs a program above $500 billion aimed at third-party capital, and Oracle is in talks of its own.
• Demand still outruns supply through 2029, by Broadcom’s own account. The variable is who will fund the next phase.

Read the full analysis for the three questions to put to any capacity provider.