Cloud startup secures $300 million in financing using AMD AI chips as collateral and deploys them in new Ohio datacenter.

AMD's AI chips will be used as debt collateral in a $300 million loan from Goldman Sachs to cloud startup Crusoe, according to The Information. The loan will be used to purchase AMD's AI chips, which will be deployed in a datacenter in Ohio. This marks the first known occurrence of such a circular deal practice with AMD's chips, mirroring similar arrangements that Nvidia has pioneered to increase GPU sales.

AMD is set to effectively serve as guarantor for the deal by agreeing to rent the chips from Crusoe if the company cannot find other willing customers. Through this arrangement, AMD will be able to count the $300 million as AI chip sales. Crusoe is a cloud startup that claims to build data centers with cleaner energy than other companies, with focus on "sites with clean, scalable power already in place."

AMD's involvement in the Crusoe deal builds on its growing presence in the AI infrastructure space. Last year, OpenAI secured up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPU compute in a deal that could see the ChatGPT creator take a significant stake in AMD. In December, AMD and HPE entered into an agreement that will bring the AMD Helios rack-scale AI architecture into HPE's product portfolio. AMD is following Nvidia's approach in using chips as collateral to support these transactions.

Nvidia has pioneered this strategy, famously putting up H100 GPUs as collateral to back CoreWeave's $2.3 billion loan by Magnetar Capital and Blackstone. These circular deals allow the companies to make substantial claims about how many chips they've sold and where they're deployed without startups bearing much of the actual risk. Meanwhile, AMD has denied reports that its next-generation MI455X accelerators may be delayed in production, with those chips set for the second half of 2026.