New Study Reveals How Much Countries Are Borrowing to Fund AI

The United States is borrowing more to fund artificial intelligence than any other major economy, according to an October 2026 report on AI-linked debt. This newly released study by British Business Funding reveals the countries that have taken the most loans to bankroll AI. The United States has raised $708 billion in AI-linked debt since 2024, equal to 2.3% of its GDP. Some 98% of the more than $89 billion Japan has borrowed for AI comes from one company, SoftBank, leaving the country’s AI funding riding on a single borrower. Malaysia has borrowed just $8.3 billion for AI, yet that amounts to 1.75% of its GDP, a bigger share than in Taiwan or the Netherlands.

To identify the countries borrowing the most to fund AI, the report tracked verified AI-linked debt deals across 20 leading AI economies between January 2024 and October 2026. The study is based on publicly available sources, so the exact amounts may be even higher than current reported figures. For all datasets available, each deal was logged by borrower, country, and amount, and covered government AI loans, state-owned company debt, company bonds, and company loans. Each country’s total was then set against the size of its 2025 economy to show how heavy the borrowing is relative to GDP. Countries were finally ranked from the largest share of GDP to the smallest.

Here’s how the top five AI-funding borrowers compare:

1. The United States

• Government and public AI credit: $6B
• Corporate AI bonds and convertibles: $409.8B
• AI loans, project finance, private credit & ABS: $292.2B
• Total AI-linked borrowing: $708.1B
• AI-linked borrowing as GDP share: 2.3%

The United States is funding the AI boom with more borrowed money than any other country. It has raised $708 billion in AI-linked debt since the start of 2024, which equals 2.3% of the US’s entire GDP. Corporate bonds make up the majority of borrowed funds at $410 billion, and loans and private credit supply the rest. The pace is quickening too, with $412 billion raised in 2026 alone, which indicates that AI borrowing is speeding up rather than levelling off.

2. Japan

Japan takes second place, with $89.8 billion borrowed for AI, or 2% of its GDP. Nearly all of it traces back to one name. SoftBank has raised $88.1 billion on its own, topped by a $15 billion bridge loan from a large group of banks. That means Japan’s spot on the list rests almost entirely on one company’s appetite for debt, rather than a broad wave of borrowing across the economy.

3. Malaysia

Malaysia comes third, and it gets there on a far smaller bill. The country has borrowed $8.3 billion for AI, over 10 times less than the US, but it still works out to 1.75% of its GDP. Almost all of it is loans, and every large deal funds a data centre campus in Johor, from DayOne’s $3.6 billion green financing to AirTrunk’s $2.3 billion project loan. This shows that Malaysia’s AI debt is a bet on physical infrastructure rather than on software or chips.

4. Taiwan

Taiwan places fourth, with $14.8 billion borrowed for AI, equal to 1.6% of its GDP. Its debt flows through the chip and server supply chain, and its biggest deals are two $1.6 billion syndicated loans signed on the same day for the chip-packaging firms ASE and SPIL. Corporate bonds and convertibles cover $9.5 billion of the total, a far bigger slice than in Malaysia, where nearly everything is loans.

5. The Netherlands

The Netherlands rounds out the top five, having borrowed $16.1 billion for AI, which equals 1.2% of its GDP. One company does most of the heavy lifting. Nebius accounts for $15 billion of it across five deals, led by a $5.75 billion convertible note offering in August. That trend mirrors Japan, where a single borrower sets the tone for the whole country.

A financial expert from British Business Funding shares more insights: “Borrowing to fund new technology can open doors, but the repayments arrive on a fixed schedule even when the returns do not. Businesses weighing AI investments should start by mapping out what the project must earn to cover its debt, then test that plan against slower growth and higher interest rates. Spreading the borrowing across different lenders and loan types can reduce the pressure if one source dries up. Smaller firms in particular should look at asset finance or staged funding that releases cash as milestones are met, so they never commit to more debt than the project has proven it can carry.” (Source: Buziness Africa)