AI Data-Center Boom Runs on Debt Investors Won't See Repaid Until 2029

Applied Digital has built its growth story around long-term leases with AI computing customers, locking in about $36 billion of contracted rent stretched over 15 years. The catch, according to a Motley Fool review of the company's disclosures, is timing: almost none of that revenue shows up until 2029, once billions of dollars in additional data-center construction is finished. The gap matters because it puts Applied Digital in the same position as much of the AI infrastructure buildout right now — companies signing contracts today for facilities that won't generate cash for years. Anthropic is reportedly seeking $15 billion in debt ahead of its IPO to fund similar growth, a sign that AI infrastructure financing increasingly runs through borrowed capital rather than existing revenue. What's unresolved is whether construction timelines hold and whether contracted customers are still standing, and paying, when facilities finally open in 2029. Any delay compounds interest costs before revenue starts flowing.