Circular Financing

TSMC's board approved up to $500 million for OpenAI preferred stock and another $500 million for Anthropic common shares at its expected IPO price, totaling up to $1 billion. The move gives one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI data center buildout direct stakes in leading AI developers, seen as a confidence boost for a strained AI trade, though analysts warn circular financing among investors, suppliers and customers is muddying true demand signals.

A podcast reading of Anthropic's S-1 highlights a founder-controlled structure locked in via a single Class F share holding 50.1% of votes, alongside roughly $900 billion in forward compute commitments. The hosts argue softer Q3 revenue reflects a GPU shortage rather than weak customer demand, and weigh bubble and circular-financing bear cases.