Corporate bond pricing in the AI era

Marco Albori () and Andrea Zaghini ()
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Marco Albori: Bank of Italy
Andrea Zaghini: Bank of Italy

No 1057, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We study how the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) affected corporate bond pricing. Using bond-level issuance data for U.S. non-financial corporations and a difference-in-differences design centered on the launch of ChatGPT, we examine whether debt investors differentiate firms according to their position in the AI value chain. We find that hyperscalers experienced a significant decline in borrowing costs relative to comparable issuers, while software firms faced less favorable financing conditions. The results suggest that credit markets rapidly incorporated expectations regarding the distribution of gains and losses from generative AI. More broadly, the evidence indicates that technological shocks affect not only firm valuations but also the cost of external finance, thereby influencing the allocation of capital across firms during periods of technological transition.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; asset pricing; bonds; corporate finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 G12 G32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
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