AI Borrowers Face Higher Debt Costs as 10-Year Treasury Yield Nears 5.17%
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 27
AI Borrowers Face Higher Debt Costs as 10-Year Treasury Yield Nears 5.17%
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 27
Summary
$4.1 trillion in AI-related debt is expected by 2030, and this week's jump in Treasury yields is set to make that financing materially more expensive for data-center builders and neocloud companies.
At roughly 5.17%, the 10-year Treasury yield is about 1 percentage point higher than at the start of 2026, forcing new issuers to offer richer returns just as lenders grow more selective.
SoftBank's $11.1 billion junk-bond sale priced as high as 9.75%, while CoreWeave has warned that every 100-basis-point rate increase adds about $30 million in interest expense on its floating-rate debt.
Oracle's shares fell 7% this week after a report it sent a force majeure notice tied to its New Mexico Project Jupiter costs, though the company said the 2028 project remains on schedule.
Even with financing pressure and political resistance to data centers, bankers and advisers say AI borrowers are still likely to keep issuing debt because demand from OpenAI, Anthropic and fast-growing consumer apps remains strong.