Cipher Digital raises $810 million in junk bonds for Amazon-linked data center

Cipher Digital has raised $810 million through a junk-bond sale to help finance a data center project tied to Amazon.com Inc., adding another large riskier-debt deal to the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom, according to Bloomberg.

The financing underscores how quickly companies are tapping public debt markets to build out the power, computing and storage capacity needed for AI systems. Bloomberg reported that Cipher’s offering is part of a broader wave of funding for infrastructure linked to the expansion of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

The deal comes as Amazon itself is also leaning on debt markets. Bloomberg reported that Amazon sold C$14 billion in Canadian dollar bonds, the largest corporate debt offering ever in that currency, after attracting about twice that amount in demand. The scale of that sale highlights how major technology companies are using capital markets to support large investment plans.

Together, the two transactions show the depth of financing flowing into AI-related infrastructure. Amazon’s borrowing reflects its push to expand capacity, while Cipher’s high-yield sale suggests smaller or more leveraged companies are also being pulled into the same buildout, often at higher borrowing costs and with greater risk for investors.

For investors, the activity signals both confidence in the long-term economics of AI infrastructure and the possibility of strain if demand or returns fail to match the pace of spending. For the companies involved, the financing provides near-term capital to keep projects moving, even as the market tests how much debt it will absorb for the sector.

The Bloomberg reports did not provide full details on the timing of the Amazon-tied data center project’s completion or when Cipher’s funds would be fully deployed, but the transactions together indicate that the competition to finance AI infrastructure is intensifying.