Blackstone’s AI chief says rising debt worries around neoclouds are overstated despite higher borrowing costs

Blackstone’s Jas Khaira said the firm is financing AI infrastructure through BXN1, including a $5B commitment to Crux AI, backing chip startup Etched, and debt structures such as CoreWeave’s early $2.3B loan and Firmus’ $10B credit facility. Concerns have grown as CoreWeave’s debt reached about $50B, its shares fell more than 20%, and Firmus canceled a planned IPO at roughly a $30B valuation, but Khaira argued much data center debt is ultimately tied to highly creditworthy hyperscaler customers. Blackstone is also pushing AI adoption through Ode, a $1.5B joint venture with Anthropic and Hellman & Friedman, though Khaira said ROI across portfolio companies is “uneven.”

For AI infrastructure builders, the reported financing model shows that committed contracts with customers like Microsoft or Meta can make debt more available, while GPU collateral alone may no longer be enough as rates and credit spreads rise. The trade-off is faster compute expansion funded by leverage versus higher refinancing and valuation pressure; the open question is whether enterprise AI adoption catches up quickly enough to support that capacity.