Tencent Holdings Ltd. is looking into an offshore bond sale worth as much as $5 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter, adding to a growing wave of tech companies turning to debt markets as artificial intelligence demands increase.

Tencent stock fell nearly 2% on the news.

The notes could be issued in dollars and offshore yuan, and the sale may happen as soon as this month, the people said, requesting anonymity because the discussions are confidential.

While no details were available on how the proceeds would be used, the move follows Tencent's nearly $4.7 billion raise from the sale of long-dated dollar and yuan securities in June, marking its largest debt offering since 2020. The proceeds from that deal were mainly earmarked for debt refinancing and general corporate purposes, including the development of AI products and services.

The potential bond sale adds to a global fundraising surge by technology companies as they seek to build up their artificial intelligence capabilities, despite mounting investor concerns about the sector. Just last month, SoftBank Group Corp. raised the equivalent of $11.1 billion through one of the largest corporate junk-bond offerings on record in an effort to fund its massive AI ambitions.

SoftBank's deal was viewed by some as a litmus test for how debt investors are thinking about AI financing amid warnings about the technology's potential risks and the need to impose guardrails around its development.

Tencent didn't respond to a request for comment.

Global AI-related debt issuance has already topped $575 billion in 2026, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. credit strategists, despite worries about potential consequences for markets if the technology fails to pay off for firms making the biggest investments.

Tencent has around $22 billion of offshore notes outstanding and no public bonds maturing this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has one dollar bond due in 2028.

The company has been ramping up its AI-related spending as it tries to catch up to rivals such as ByteDance Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., raising capital expenditures by 176% on AI projects and computing to 52.8 billion yuan ($7.9 billion) in the June quarter.

Tencent aims to develop artificial intelligence models akin to the best from DeepSeek or Moonshot AI, such as the Hy4 for later in 2026. It already operates one of the country's largest AWS-like cloud services, offering computing to clients keen to develop their own AI platforms.