Meta has outlined plans to raise $35 billion through a stock sale to fund AI investment, while SpaceX has agreed a roughly $40 billion deal to lease AI computing power. The figures put the financing behind the AI build-out in unusually clear view, along with the risk of chipmakers becoming investors in the demand they hope to serve.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
An Associated Press report on Monday’s US markets says Meta could raise a further $60 billion by selling a new class of shares once they begin trading. Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom have indicated they may buy a total of $5 billion in Meta’s offering. These are indications of interest, not a completed purchase.
The report also says SpaceX agreed a roughly $40 billion deal with an entity managed by Apollo Global Management to lease AI computing power. Meta’s shares swung as investors weighed its fundraising plans; AI-related stocks were unsettled amid concerns about the cost of data centres and borrowing.
Why it matters
AI infrastructure needs enormous sums, and these arrangements show some of the routes companies are using to raise them. They also sharpen a question about circular financing: chipmakers that may benefit from more AI spending could also buy into a customer’s fundraising. The AP report notes that critics see such ties as a potential risk if AI does not deliver the returns expected.
That is a concern, not proof that the deals will fail. But when investment, customers and suppliers overlap, the source of demand matters as much as the size of the cheque.
Our read
These are consequential funding plans and agreements, not just a day’s share-price weather. The useful detail is who may provide the money and what it is meant to finance. Keep the distinction between proposed fundraising and confirmed investment in view; the numbers are large enough without rounding possibility up to fact.
What to watch
- Whether Meta completes the planned stock sale and how much it raises.
- Whether the chipmakers proceed with the indicated purchases.
- What the SpaceX-Apollo arrangement means in practice for computing capacity and lease terms.
Discussion spark: When chipmakers may invest in a customer’s AI fundraising, is that a sensible way to finance infrastructure or a circular bet that deserves more scrutiny?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (26 October 2026, 15:36 UTC)
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