Alphabet taps global markets in AI arms race

Borrowing spree: A pedestrian walks past Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Google parent company Alphabet has raised US$20bil in its biggest dollar bond sale and eyes century-long debt as hyperscalers drive a historic financing boom. — AFP

NEW YORK: Alphabet Inc is borrowing far and wide to finance the unprecedented spending plan behind its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions, and investors can’t seem to get enough.

The Google parent raised US$20bil in its biggest ever US dollar bond sale on Monday more than the US$15bil initially expected, after racking up one of the biggest order books of all time.