LONDON, February 2026 — Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has just achieved a financial milestone that was once the exclusive privilege of powerful nations. By issuing a 100-year “century bond,” the tech titan has signaled that it expects to outlast many of today’s political regimes—and global investors are betting billions that they are right.
Borrowing Like a Country, Not a Company
Typically, only governments—and very few of them—issue debt with a century-long maturity. While the Indian government has yet to venture into 100-year bonds, Alphabet successfully raised $1.37 billion (£1 billion) in the UK market.
By locking in a 6.125% fixed coupon rate, Alphabet has created a “borrows once, worry never” scenario. For the next century, regardless of how market interest rates fluctuate, Google’s interest obligations remain fixed. For investors, particularly pension and insurance funds, this offers a reliable, long-term income stream that currently outperforms many government-backed securities.
The AI Infrastructure Arms Race
This isn’t just about corporate prestige; it’s about survival in the AI era. Unlike the speculative “Dot-com” bubble of the 1990s, this debt is being raised to fund massive, physical infrastructure.
The capital is earmarked for:
- Data Centers: The “hard infrastructure” required to process trillions of AI data points.
- Specialized Chips: Procuring the hardware that currently commands a massive premium.
- Energy Production: Building the power grids necessary to keep these cooling-intensive centers running.
In a single 24-hour window, Alphabet sold a total of $32 billion in bonds across various currencies. This “hyper-aggressive” spending is designed to ensure Google remains the dominant “hyperscaler” for the next century.
The “Too Big to Fail” Trap?
The demand for these bonds was overwhelming, with the century bond oversubscribed by nearly 9.5 times. This level of trust suggests that institutional investors now view “Big Tech” as a safer bet than many sovereign nations.
However, history offers a stern warning. In 1997, Motorola issued its own 100-year bond when it was the undisputed king of mobile technology. Just a decade later, the iPhone disrupted the market, and Motorola’s dominance evaporated. While their bonds still exist, the company’s “too big to fail” status proved to be an illusion.
Geopolitical Power Shift
The issuance of these bonds in British Pounds rather than US Dollars is a strategic move to hedge against currency risks. By tapping into European savings to fund American AI development, Alphabet is effectively practicing financial geopolitics.
The concern for regulators is clear: if Big Tech companies can offer better returns and higher stability than governments, sovereign bonds—used to fund schools, roads, and hospitals—may see a decline in demand. This creates a world where a search engine has more financial leverage than the state that hosts it.
Bottom Line
The “Century Bond” is more than a loan; it is a declaration of permanence. While Alphabet currently enjoys a debt-to-earnings ratio that allows for such massive borrowing, the risk of an “AI Debt Bubble” remains. If the promised AI revenues don’t materialize, the very investors currently fleeing government bonds for the safety of Google may find themselves holding a hundred-year promise that a disrupted tech giant can no longer keep.
