ING puts $500M in AI data center loans up for sale as financing concerns grow

Dutch bank ING $ING is reportedly seeking buyers for a $500 million portfolio of data center loans, adding to concerns about the financing behind the AI infrastructure boom.
According to Bloomberg, the portfolio includes 12 loans tied to operators such as Vantage Data Centers and CyrusOne, along with a $25 million exposure to a New Mexico site linked to OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle's Stargate project. Bids are due November 19.
The sale comes as investors increasingly question the gap between AI infrastructure commitments and the cash required to deliver them.
Oracle $ORCL reported $664 billion in remaining performance obligations as of August, up from $455 billion a year earlier. But capital expenditures reached $28.5 billion in its latest reported quarter, exceeding quarterly revenue of roughly $19.3 billion.
Construction delays are creating additional pressure. IREN $IREN has pushed back infrastructure deliveries under its $9.7 billion agreement with Microsoft $MSFT, while Microsoft has reportedly tightened oversight of projects involving IREN, Nebius $NBIS and other neocloud providers.
The delays have contributed to a sharp selloff in AI infrastructure stocks, with investors reassessing project timelines, funding costs and the reliability of future revenue.
ING's proposed loan sale does not establish that the underlying borrowers are in distress. However, it highlights growing scrutiny of data center debt as lenders and investors weigh the risks of financing projects that may take longer than expected to generate returns.
For AI infrastructure companies, securing large contracts is only part of the challenge. Delivering capacity on schedule and converting those commitments into cash flow is becoming just as important.
Source: Bloomberg, Reuters, Oracle filings, The Information (November 5–6, 2026)