Blackstone's Jon Gray Urges More Equity for $10 Trillion AI Buildout
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Nov 3
Blackstone's Jon Gray Urges More Equity for $10 Trillion AI Buildout
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Nov 3
Summary
Jon Gray said AI infrastructure needs more equity funding because lenders are becoming too concentrated in the companies driving the buildout, while debt investors have limited upside beyond interest and principal.
Emmanuel Roman of Pimco warned the financing wave could overwhelm markets: AI-related capital spending may reach about $10 trillion in five years, against roughly $550 billion of AI debt issued so far this year.
Goldman Sachs estimated global data-center demand will require $8.5 trillion in capital spending over the next five years, pushing companies toward structured deals, private capital, banks and public markets.
Gray said demand for computing power is still outstripping supply, with AI-model spending across Blackstone portfolio companies up 20-fold in the past year even as sites, permits, chips, power and capital stay hard to secure.
Are tech giants using shadow financing to mask the true cost of an AI arms race that global debt markets cannot absorb?
Will Wall Street's complex funding structures collapse under the weight of unprecedented power shortages and resource bottlenecks?
The $10 Trillion AI Infrastructure Boom: Debt Risks, Grid Bottlenecks, and the Real Economic Impact
Overview
In 2026, Wall Street leaders warned that the AI infrastructure boom was dangerously reliant on debt, with banks reaching their lending limits and shifting risky exposure off their balance sheets. As tech giants like Alphabet and Oracle faced negative cash flow and turned to massive stock offerings, market volatility surged, causing sharp drops in company valuations. Meanwhile, the explosion in data center construction drove U.S. utilities to announce $1.4 trillion in new investments, but severe equipment shortages and long grid connection delays led to project slowdowns and public backlash. Speculative power requests further inflated utility queues, prompting stricter tariffs and a dramatic drop in new project approvals.