Blackstone executive Jas Khaira has played down concerns that rising debt levels associated with artificial intelligence infrastructure could trigger a broader financial crisis, arguing that much of the borrowing is supported by financially strong technology companies.
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Khaira, who leads Blackstone's AI investment platform Blackstone N1 (BXN1), acknowledged increasing borrowing costs and investor concerns surrounding the rapid expansion of AI data centres and computing infrastructure.
However, he maintained that the financing arrangements differ from those associated with previous financial crises, particularly because major technology companies underpin much of the demand for AI computing capacity.
Blackstone, which manages approximately $1.3 trillion in assets, has expanded its involvement in AI infrastructure through investments in data centres, cloud computing providers, semiconductor companies and AI applications.
Earlier this year, the investment firm established BXN1 in San Francisco to coordinate its AI-related investment activities. The platform focuses on providing capital across different financing structures, including debt and equity.
Khaira said Blackstone's approach places particular emphasis on computing infrastructure, where growing demand for processing capacity has created substantial funding requirements.
Among its investments is Crux AI, a cloud computing venture developed in partnership with Google to commercialise its tensor processing units. Blackstone committed $5 billion to the venture and has also backed AI chip developer Etched.
The firm's involvement in AI infrastructure financing dates back to 2023, when it provided a $2.3 billion loan to CoreWeave, a cloud computing provider specialising in graphics processing units.
The financing arrangement considered both the value of CoreWeave's Nvidia chips and its contracts with major customers, including Microsoft.
Blackstone subsequently participated in additional financing transactions, including a $10 billion credit facility for Australian computing infrastructure provider Firmus.
Despite continued investment, concerns have emerged over the financial obligations accumulated by AI infrastructure operators. CoreWeave's debt has reached approximately $50 billion, while rising interest rates and wider credit spreads have increased borrowing costs.
Market uncertainty has also affected company valuations. CoreWeave shares recently declined by more than 20%, while Firmus abandoned a proposed Australian stock market listing that had targeted a valuation of approximately $30 billion.
Khaira attributed some of the pressure to changing market conditions and investor reassessments of appropriate valuations for specialised AI cloud providers.
He nevertheless argued that demand for computing infrastructure remains substantial, with major technology companies continuing to invest in AI development.
Beyond infrastructure financing, Blackstone has established a $1.5 billion joint venture with Anthropic and Hellman & Friedman to help businesses integrate AI into their operations.
The venture, called Ode, will initially work with Blackstone's portfolio of approximately 280 companies.
Khaira acknowledged that financial returns from enterprise AI adoption remain uneven, even as organisations increase their investment in the technology.
His comments come amid growing scrutiny of whether the pace of AI infrastructure spending can be sustained by future commercial demand and enterprise adoption.
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