AI Boom Fuels 11% Rise in Top Japan Insurer’s Project Loans (1)

Nippon Life Insurance Co. sees its overseas project finance lending climbing 11% to a record high this year due to surging demand to fund AI data centers in the US and elsewhere.

The outstanding amount of such loans provided by Japan’s largest life insurer is likely to reach ¥1 trillion ($6.8 billion) for the first time in the fiscal year started April, said Akira Shibata, the company’s global head of structured finance. That total has grown by about ¥100 billion annually in recent years after subtracting loans repaid, he said.

The Osaka-based insurer isn’t the only Japanese financial firm ...