Blackstone executive Jas Khaira has pushed back against concerns over mounting debt among artificial intelligence infrastructure companies, arguing that loans backed by valuable computing equipment and contracts with major technology customers carry different risks from the weak bank lending that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, Khaira explained how Blackstone finances data centre operators and specialised cloud providers that rent computing capacity to AI developers.
His comments were reported by TechCrunch on October 21, as rising borrowing costs and heavy infrastructure spending have intensified scrutiny of the AI investment boom.
“This doesn’t feel like something where you’ve got 2008 banks that are shaky credits,” Khaira said, drawing a distinction between AI infrastructure financing and the lending problems associated with the global financial crisis.
Khaira is a senior managing director at Blackstone and leads its Blackstone N1 and Blackstone Growth investment platforms. He also heads Tactical Opportunities Americas, a role that gives him experience across equity investments and complex financing arrangements.
One of the clearest examples of his approach is CoreWeave, a specialised cloud provider that supplies computing capacity to AI companies.
In 2023, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and other investors participated in a $2.3 billion debt financing facility led by Magnetar Capital and Blackstone. The facility was designed to help CoreWeave expand its computing infrastructure and purchase the equipment needed to meet customer demand.
Khaira told TechCrunch that CoreWeave had approximately $30 million in revenue and minimal profitability when the financing was arranged. The company’s customer contracts, including commitments involving Microsoft, and its Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) helped support the lending decision.
The structure tied financing to identifiable assets and anticipated revenue rather than relying exclusively on the borrower’s existing profitability. Customer contracts can give lenders greater visibility into future payments, while GPUs provide collateral that may be claimed under the terms of secured financing agreements.
However, the arrangement does not eliminate the risk that a borrower could struggle to service its debt, particularly if operating expenses rise, customer commitments change or computing equipment loses value.
CoreWeave’s subsequent financial position illustrates the scale of the challenge. Reuters reported on October 15 that the company had approximately $50 billion in debt. Analysts cited in the report expected revenue of about $13 billion and a net loss of $2.13 billion for 2026, while CoreWeave’s capital expenditure forecast had increased to between $35 billion and $39 billion.
The company also reported a revenue backlog of $104.2 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2026, according to Reuters. That backlog reflects substantial customer commitments, but fulfilling them requires CoreWeave to continue investing in computing capacity, power and data centre infrastructure.
Credit markets have also shown concern about the company’s borrowing risks. Reuters reported that yields on CoreWeave’s junk-rated bonds due in 2031 had reached approximately 16% in mid-October, indicating that investors were demanding high returns to hold the debt.
Khaira has acknowledged that important financing questions remain unresolved. In September, The Information reported that he identified uncertainty over who would ultimately provide the debt required to fund the AI infrastructure build-out. Potential sources include public debt markets, private credit providers and debt issued by AI companies that eventually enter public markets.
Market conditions have also affected other infrastructure investments associated with Blackstone.
Firmus, an AI infrastructure company that announced a $10 billion debt facility led by Blackstone-affiliated funds and other investors in February 2026, abandoned its planned stock market listing in October after investors proved unwilling to support its intended valuation, according to TechCrunch.
Blackstone has continued investing across the AI infrastructure sector. In May 2026, the firm announced an initial $5 billion equity commitment to a joint venture with Google to develop a cloud service based on Google’s custom Tensor Processing Units, with the first 500 megawatts of capacity expected to come online in 2027.
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