Anthropic is expected to receive a high "junk" credit rating from rating agencies after its initial public offering, according to a Financial Times report. Blackstone, the anchor investor in a recent $63 billion deal to finance Anthropic's chips, told investors in that deal it now expects the AI lab to land in the double-B range, the top tier of speculative-grade ratings.
The forecast reverses what Blackstone said earlier, when it told investors Anthropic would secure an investment-grade rating, which signals low risk for lenders, before 2027. Both Anthropic and Blackstone declined to comment to TechCrunch. The prediction is not a final decision by a rating agency, but it lands just as Anthropic's public listing pushes the AI spending debate back into the spotlight.
Why a junk rating matters for Anthropic
A junk rating would make it harder and more expensive for Anthropic to raise money. The company has spent heavily over the past 12 months, signing large compute power deals that have already made some investors nervous. Higher borrowing costs would bite directly into the funding that has undergirded its business.
The reported forecast matters beyond Anthropic because it touches the wider question of how credit markets view AI companies. If the most prominent AI labs are treated as speculative borrowers, the cheap money that fueled the boom may not flow as freely.
- Expected rating: double-B range, the top tier of junk grade
- Earlier forecast: investment grade before 2027
- Anchor investor: Blackstone, in a $63 billion chip financing deal
