AI in action · Markets
GPU Loans Hit a Wall as Lenders Doubt Chip Lifespans
Some lenders are selling AI data-centre and GPU loans at steep discounts, Semafor reported on November 9, as banks shop a $40 billion SpaceX chip deal.
The debt that pays for AI chips is getting harder to place. Semafor reported on Monday, November 9, that some investors are trying to offload AI data-centre loans quickly, with whole loan portfolios shopped at steep discounts. GPU financings are "getting smoked", one source told the outlet, because lenders worry the loans will outlast the useful life of the chips they are secured on.
A bank was among the sellers. According to a Bloomberg report of November 5 cited by Semafor, ING was looking to sell $500 million of data-centre loans, including a $25 million piece backing Stargate, the data-centre project of OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle. A single loan sale is not a crisis, but it shows a lender choosing to cut its exposure rather than hold it.
The biggest test is a deal still being sold. Goldman Sachs and Apollo are talking to investors about portions of a roughly $40 billion financing for SpaceX's AI chips, Reuters reported on November 4, citing Bloomberg; some were asked to take stakes of up to $500 million before formal syndication. An Apollo affiliate buys the chips and server hardware and leases them back to SpaceX for a little over five years from delivery, expected in the first half of 2027, keeping the debt off SpaceX's balance sheet. Bloomberg called it the largest arrangement of its kind for GPUs on record.
The objection is about depreciation, not demand. Ares Management chief executive Michael Arougheti said on an earnings call that the firm will pass on GPU financings: "I, for one, personally do not know how to underwrite the decline and depreciation curves on that type of technology." A five-year lease on hardware that is superseded much faster leaves the lender exposed if the collateral loses value before the debt is repaid, and lenders who share that view will either demand higher rates or stay away.
Semafor calls the SpaceX sale the next test of whether Wall Street can find enough buyers. If it clears at reasonable terms, the strain looks confined to smaller, weaker borrowers; if banks are left holding large pieces, the cost of financing AI hardware rises for everyone, and so does the pressure on companies whose growth depends on borrowed chips.
Sources: Semafor — AI chip financing hits a wall (Nov 9, 2026); Reuters via The Star — Goldman, Apollo seek buyers for $40 billion SpaceX AI chip deal, Bloomberg News reports (Nov 5, 2026)