← Front page

Big Technology Podcast · Wednesday, August 12, 2026

AI Funding Shifts to External Financing, Raising Concerns Over Debt

Paul Kedrosky highlights a significant shift in AI infrastructure funding, noting that as of Q2 2023, over 50% of data center financing comes from external sources, indicating a move away from cash flow. This reliance on debt is a departure from previous assumptions and raises potential concerns for the market.

The tape

2 quotes
Well, guess what? As of the second quarter of 2023, this is now more than 50% of the funding for data centers is external financing, which is obviously the term of art for off balance sheet and out of your own cash flows.
Paul Kedrosky
And now of course, the same people who were saying that, you know, a year ago were saying that that would matter is now saying, well, that's perfectly fine now.
Paul Kedrosky
Heard on Big Technology Podcast — “Here's How The AI Bubble Bursts — With Paul Kedrosky, published Wednesday, August 12, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via Gemini audio transcription · $0.04
AI Funding Shifts to External Financing, Raising Concerns Over Debt — Heardvine