JPMorgan Leads $5 Billion Debt Package for Volta AI Buildout

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has begun early outreach to potential lenders for a $5 billion debt package to fund Volta Infra Holdings Ltd.’s buildout of AI data centers, according to people familiar with the financing.

The new artificial intelligence cloud company earlier this month secured $300 million in venture funding, which values it at $2.4 billion, to help a wider mix of technology firms gain access to costly AI chips.

JPMorgan, which is leading the transaction, has begun holding discussions with lenders to gauge early interest in investing in the debt, the people said, asking not to be named discussing a private transaction. Spokespeople for JPMorgan and Volta declined to comment.

Wall Street is throwing its weight behind an AI buildout expected to cost nearly $5 trillion by the end of 2030. Companies have borrowed roughly $600 billion for data centers and other AI investments since last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

Volta was founded earlier this year by Ricard Boada and Sofia Gumuzio, two former executives from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.’s infrastructure business. Volta’s goal is to make it easier for top AI labs and smaller startups to pay for Nvidia Corp.’s cutting-edge chips.

While only a few months old, Volta recently struck a $10 billion deal to provide computing capacity to Claude maker Anthropic PBC, Bloomberg previously reported. Anthropic has signed a contract to use a data center managed by Volta which will be delivered in partnership with Bitdeer Technologies Group, using a site in Norway. Bitdeer is a Bitcoin miner that operates data centers. The agreement will run for six years.

As tech companies ratchet up spending on chips and data centers to support AI, more firms have started offering new financing vehicles.

Broadcom Inc. is working with Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone Inc. to help fund chips for Anthropic PBC. CoreWeave Inc. has financed Nvidia chip purchases using various tactics, including leveraging the strong credit ratings of customers like Meta Platforms Inc.