Big Tech CDS Hit Records as AI Buildout Fuels Debt Fears

Big Tech’s race to secure computing capacity has turned AI into a capital-intensive buildout spanning data centers, chips and memory. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle had raised nearly $302 billion through equity and debt markets by July 22, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The borrowing wave matters because credit-default swaps, which price the cost of insuring debt against default, are signaling concern that returns may arrive too slowly to offset higher financing and refinancing costs.

On July 27, five-year CDS tied to Oracle, Broadcom and Nvidia reached records, LSEG data showed. Oracle’s spread traded at 215 basis points, about 50% above 144 at the start of 2026, while Nvidia’s hit 79 basis points. Oracle expects roughly $70 billion of capital spending in fiscal 2027, ending in May, as it expands data-center capacity. S&P Global Ratings cut Oracle one notch to BBB- on July 9, leaving it just above speculative grade and sharpening scrutiny of its AI funding strategy.