Alphabet returns to bond market as AI spending accelerates

Alphabet has a problem that most companies would love to have: its AI ambitions are growing faster than even its considerable cash flows can comfortably support. So the Google parent is going to the bond market. The company is planning a bond offering of up to $25 billion, its third major debt raise of 2026. The proceeds are earmarked for AI infrastructure and repaying existing debt. The bond parade of 2026 Back in February 2026, Alphabet completed a roughly $32 billion bond sale spanning multiple currencies. That deal included a 100-year sterling bond, the first of its kind from a tech company since 1997. In May, Alphabet followed up with a six-tranche euro bond deal worth at least €9 billion, or about $10.5 billion. That was the largest euro-denominated bond the company had ever issued. Now comes the August $25 billion offering. Add it up and Alphabet has raised, or is in the process of raising, the better part of $70 billion in debt in under a year. What $185 billion buys you Alphabet’s capital expenditure guidance for 2026 sits between $185 billion and $190 billion. That figure is nearly double what the company spent in 2025. Industry-wide AI infrastructure spending is projecte...