Alphabet begins first Hong Kong- and Singapore-dollar bond sales amid AI spending scrutiny

Alphabet is seeking investors in two new currency markets as its AI infrastructure spending draws greater scrutiny. The Google parent has begun marketing its first Hong Kong-dollar and Singapore-dollar bonds, Bloomberg reported.

The proposed borrowing follows an earlier effort to gauge interest from banks and potential buyers. TradingKey, citing a November 9 Bloomberg report based on people familiar with the matter, put the contemplated total at $2.5 billion to $3 billion. That was a preliminary estimate, not a completed fundraising or a final offering size.

Under that earlier plan, the Hong Kong-dollar portion would raise the equivalent of about $1 billion to $1.5 billion. The Singapore-dollar portion was expected to bring in around $1.5 billion.

Seven repayment periods across two currencies

The marketing spans three repayment periods in Hong Kong dollars and four in Singapore dollars. Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the matter for the initial pricing guidance.

• Hong Kong dollars: around 4.6% for two-year bonds, 5% for five-year bonds and 5.5% for ten-year bonds.
• Singapore dollars: around 2.75% for two-year notes, 3.25% for five-year notes, 3.65% for ten-year notes and 4% for 30-year notes.

The Singapore-dollar offering therefore reaches further into the future, with a 30-year option alongside the shorter maturities available in both currencies. The Hong Kong-dollar offering stops at ten years. Both sets of guidance rise with the repayment period, although they concern bonds denominated in different currencies.

A larger investment bill, but no AI earmark

The proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, potentially including repayment of outstanding debt, Bloomberg reported.

TradingKey reported third-quarter capital expenditure of $51.4 billion and full-year 2026 spending guidance of $195 billion to $205 billion. It also said management expected spending to increase significantly again in 2027. The investment program covers data centers, servers, networking equipment and Alphabet’s own chips, putting several parts of the AI infrastructure buildout behind the spending pressure.

The same article put Alphabet’s long-term debt at $125.1 billion at the end of September, compared with $21.6 billion a year earlier. It reported negative quarterly free cash flow of $9.1 billion. Those figures place the new borrowing effort alongside both a much larger existing debt balance and heavy current investment.

Alphabet has also been borrowing elsewhere. Earlier in November, it raised €6 billion through a euro bond sale, Bloomberg reported. Its borrowing costs were materially higher than in its May euro offering as concerns about the pace of AI spending grew.