Blackstone told investors that Anthropic, an AI startup based in the US, may not secure an investment-grade rating after a future IPO and is now expected to receive a rating at the high end of junk.

That revised Blackstone’s earlier guidance. The US investment firm is backing a US$18 billion debt deal tied to Anthropic’s AI chips.

On the rating scales used by S&P and Fitch, BBB- or higher is investment grade. BB+ or lower is high-yield, or junk.

A speculative-grade rating usually means higher yields than investment-grade debt. It could also limit demand from pension and insurance investors restricted from holding below-investment-grade debt.

Anthropic posted a net loss of over US$80 billion in the first half of 2026. The loss was largely on paper.

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

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