Alphabet is selling a rare 100-year bond as part of a multi-currency debt issuance to fund its massive AI investments. The Google parent company is also selling $20 billion in dollar bonds and lining up a Swiss franc bond sale, marking one of the most aggressive borrowing moves in Big Tech this year.

Century bonds are highly unusual, with only a handful of institutions like the University of Oxford and EDF having issued them in sterling markets. Most tech companies cap their debt at 40 years, though IBM sold a 100-year bond in 1996. The move comes as Big Tech companies are expected to invest nearly $700 billion in AI infrastructure this year, requiring unprecedented capital.

Investor demand was strongest for the shortest-term offerings, with a three-year bond pricing at just 0.27 percentage points above US Treasuries. Some portfolio managers, however, are wary of overexposure to companies with massive AI-related capital expenditures. Alphabet's long-term debt has quadrupled to $46.5 billion while holding $126.8 billion in cash. The company plans to spend up to $185 billion on capex this year, roughly double last year's total, to capitalize on demand for its Gemini AI assistant.