BlackRock and Microsoft are partnering up to launch a new $100bn fund to invest in AI infrastructure.
The two firms are forming their partnership with two others, Global Infrastructure Partners and MGX, to invest in data centres and supporting power infrastructure. The joint venture will be known as the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP).
While most of the investment will be in the US, the firms said that some of the money will be directed towards US partner countries.
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, said: “Mobilising private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centres and power will unlock a multi-trillion-dollar long-term investment opportunity. Data centres are the bedrock of the digital economy, and these investments will help power economic growth, create jobs, and drive AI technology innovation.”
According to a joint statement, the partnership will support an open architecture and broad ecosystem, providing full access on a non-exclusive basis for a diverse range of partners and companies. Nvidia will support GAIIP, offering its expertise in AI data centres and AI factories to benefit the AI ecosystem.
GAIIP will also actively engage with industry leaders to help enhance AI supply chains and energy sourcing for the benefit of its customers and the industry. The partnership will initially seek to unlock $30bn of private equity capital over time from investors, asset owners, corporates, which in turn will mobilise up to $100bn in total investment potential when including debt financing.
This is not the first investment made by Microsoft this year into AI. In February, the firm announced that it was making heavy investments into the AI landscapes of France and Germany this week. Microsoft is reportedly set to invest €3.2bn in building up its AI infrastructure and cloud capacity in Germany by the end of the next year. The investment is expected to cover the training of some 1.2 million German workers, along with the building of data centres around the city of Frankfurt and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
This was followed in June by another €2.9bn investment from Microsoft, this time into cloud and AI infrastructure in Sweden.
