Big-tech bond issuance: 2025 full year vs 2026 YTD
Combined issuance by the five largest US tech issuers, $ billions.
About this data
The five largest tech issuers sold $159bn of bonds in the first five months of 2026 — a 47% jump on the $121bn they issued across the whole of 2025. The increase is not a refinancing wave; it is new money raised against data-centre construction.
Big-tech bond issuance: 2025 full year vs 2026 YTD
Combined issuance by the five largest US tech issuers, $ billions.
Data table
| usd_b | period | series | source_ref | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | 2025 full year | issuance_trend | cryptobriefing-159b | Five largest US tech issuers sold $121bn across all of 2025 |
| 159 | 2026 to early June | issuance_trend | cryptobriefing-159b | Same five issuers sold $159bn through early June 2026 — a 47% jump on full-year 2025 |
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Aug 14, 2026Methodology
This index tracks how the AI build-out is FINANCED, which is a different question from how much is being spent. Capex guidance is covered separately by the ai-capex-vs-defense index. Issuer figures are 2026 corporate bond issuance through early June, as reported for the five largest US tech issuers. Microsoft is inside the $159bn five-issuer total but no standalone figure is published in the cited source, so that bar is OMITTED rather than derived by subtraction. CAVEAT: the projections chart mixes three different measures — issuance to date, a hyperscaler-only sell-side range, and a broader "global AI-related debt" projection. They are not additive. The ~$800bn private-credit figure is an ESTIMATE of off-balance-sheet data-centre structures, not an issuance tally, and is the least observable number on the page. Scout run: Trending_Candidates/2026-08-06.md. Re-verified 2026-08-10.
Sources
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.