TeraWulf (WULF.US) plans to raise $3.5 billion to build an AI data center and enter the leveraged loan market for the first time.

US data center operator TeraWulf (WULF.US) is planning to raise about $3.5 billion in debt financing to fund the construction of its data center campus in Kentucky. The company plans to enter the leveraged loan market for the first time and issue high-yield bonds to support the expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Patrick Fleury, Chief Financial Officer of TeraWulf, stated that the financing plan is expected to launch this year, with Morgan Stanley likely to lead the arrangement. In addition to leveraged loans, the financing will also include the issuance of high-yield bonds. It is worth noting that TeraWulf was the first bitcoin mining company to enter the high-yield bond market for financing, issuing $3.2 billion and $1.3 billion high-yield bonds in October and December last year, respectively. In recent years, TeraWulf has been gradually shifting away from bitcoin mining operations towards AI infrastructure development. Earlier this week, the company announced a 20-year data center leasing agreement with AI startup Anthropic to provide services at its Justified Data data center campus in Hawesville, Kentucky. Fleury expects this agreement to generate approximately $19 billion in revenue for the company and includes two five-year renewal options. Additionally, media reports have indicated that Anthropic has agreed to lease additional AI computing chip resources from TeraWulf's two other data centers, further expanding their collaboration. Fleury stated that Morgan Stanley has previously been involved in the company's bond financing and is exploring the feasibility of entering the leveraged loan market. Several lending institutions that participated in TeraWulf's $250 million revolving credit facility earlier this year are also expected to be involved in the financing of the Justified Data project. As global investments in AI infrastructure continue to rise, the size of related financing has also increased rapidly. Bloomberg data shows that global AI-related debt financing has reached approximately $335 billion this year, more than double the same period in 2025, including companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) and SpaceX. In addition to traditional bond financing, more AI infrastructure companies are turning to the US leveraged loan market for financing. For example, this week, a subsidiary of data center operator QTS, backed by Blackstone, is promoting a $1 billion leveraged loan to repay data center-related debt and pay dividends. In May of this year, AI cloud computing company CoreWeave (CRWV.US) successfully issued a $3.1 billion term loan, with an interest rate 4.5 percentage points higher than the benchmark rate.