Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, has launched a rare long-term debt sale, including 100-year bonds, as it seeks to raise funds to support its rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) business and infrastructure spending.
The century-long bond issuance is part of a larger multi-currency debt offering that includes sterling-denominated bonds and Swiss franc notes. In total, Alphabet is selling about £5.5 billion (roughly $7.5 billion) of sterling bonds, with the 100-year tranche expected to raise around £1 billion. Americas-dollar and Swiss franc tranches with maturities from three to 25 years are also part of the package.
Century bonds are extremely uncommon, especially in the technology sector, marking the first tech corporate issuance of such duration since Motorola’s similar offering in 1997. The use of ultra-long-dated debt reflects strong investor demand for long-term fixed-income, particularly from pension funds and insurers.
Alphabet’s bond sales come amid an aggressive expansion of capital expenditure, with the company signalling plans to spend up to $185 billion in 2026 on AI infrastructure, data centres and related technology build-outs. Diversifying across currencies also helps tap a broader base of international investors while managing financing costs.
Despite its cash reserves, Alphabet’s increased reliance on debt highlights a shift among major tech firms toward raising external funding to support expansive, multi-year AI projects. The broader technology industry is witnessing a surge in corporate bond issuance to back large-scale capital investments.
