Microsoft says this fund has up to $100bn in total investment potential and aims to create new data centres to meet the growing demand for computing power and AI.
Microsoft has announced a new partnership with investment giant Blackrock that will invest in data centres to support the growth of AI.
This AI fund is being led by Blackrock and includes Global Infrastructure Partners and MGX – along with support from Nvidia. This partnership plans to raise $30bn of private equity capital over time from investors, asset owners and corporates. The partners believe this will mobilise up to $100bn in total investment potential when including debt financing.
The funding will be primarily focused in the US, investing in new and expanded data centres to meet the growing demand for computing power, as well as the energy infrastructure to support these facilities.
This Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership will also invest some of its funding into “US partner countries”.
“We are committed to ensuring AI helps advance innovation and drives growth across every sector of the economy,” said Microsoft chair and CEO Satya Nadella. “The Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership will help us deliver on this vision, as we bring together financial and industry leaders to build the infrastructure of the future and power it in a sustainable way.”
BlackRock has a broad network of corporate relationships which it plans to use to raise the funding. It is also in the process of closing a massive acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners.
“Mobilising private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centers and power will unlock a multitrillion-dollar, long-term investment opportunity,” said Blackrock chair and CEO Larry Fink. “Data centers are the bedrock of the digital economy, and these investments will help power economic growth, create jobs and drive AI technology innovation.”
Data centres continue to be a hot topic around the world, being a vital component for advanced technology such as AI. But these centres are also sucking up vast amounts of energy – they consumed more than a fifth of Ireland’s electricity last year.
There was also some concern among investors earlier this year around the focus Big Tech is placing on AI. The shares of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla – all fell earlier this year, with the question of AI profitability identified as a potential issue.
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