The artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout will need more equity financing as lenders become increasingly exposed to the companies driving the buildout, Blackstone President Jon Gray said Tuesday.
Speaking at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, Gray said the scale of capital required for AI is creating concentration risks for debt investors, both across the sector and at individual companies.
Unlike shareholders, who can benefit from a company's growth, lenders have limited upside as their returns are largely confined to interest and principal repayments, he said.
Speaking at the same panel, Pimco CEO Emmanuel Roman warned investors that the scale of AI financing could prove to be "too much" for markets to absorb.
Roman said AI-related capital spending could reach around $10 trillion over the next five years, citing General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford's estimate. He added that about $550 billion in AI debt had been issued in various forms so far this year.