BlackRock and Microsoft are teaming up to create a $30 billion AI infrastructure investment fund, targeting the growing energy and infrastructure demands of AI technology. The new Global AI Investment Partnership, led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), will focus on building data centers and energy projects designed to meet the rising power needs of AI-driven innovations.
The collaboration with Nvidia, a leader in AI chip manufacturing, will involve guidance on the design and integration of factories and infrastructure to support AI production. As the demand for AI products like generative AI continues to surge, these energy-intensive processes are straining existing digital infrastructure, requiring new solutions.
The partnership between BlackRock and Microsoft seeks to raise $30 billion in equity investments, which could leverage up to an additional $70 billion through debt financing. This makes it one of the largest AI-focused infrastructure investments ever launched. BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners will manage the fund, which marks GIP’s first significant project since BlackRock acquired it for $12.5 billion.
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Larry Fink, BlackRock’s CEO, emphasised the significance of this move: “Mobilising private capital to build AI infrastructure, such as data centres and energy solutions, presents a multi-trillion-dollar long-term opportunity.”
Microsoft, a partner in the fund, has been investing heavily in AI and renewable energy. Earlier this year, the tech giant committed $10 billion to renewable electricity projects in partnership with Brookfield Asset Management. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, noted that “the world will need more capital investment to accelerate the development of AI infrastructure.”
The power and infrastructure bottlenecks caused by AI advancements are a growing concern. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted the need for more AI infrastructure: “Accelerated computing and generative AI are creating an unprecedented demand for energy and AI infrastructure to power the next industrial revolution.”
By 2026, the International Energy Agency predicts that global electricity consumption from data centres could exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours, more than double the amount used in 2022. This trend is evident in the U.S., where electricity demand is rising for the first time in 20 years, partly due to the expansion of energy-hungry AI infrastructure projects.
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The $30 billion fund aims to address this looming challenge by funding the construction of energy-efficient data centres and sustainable power solutions. Bayo Ogunlesi, GIP’s CEO, stressed the importance of this investment: “There is a clear need to mobilise private capital to fund the AI infrastructure essential to our future.”
MGX, the Abu Dhabi-backed AI investment company, will join Microsoft as a general partner in the Global AI Investment Partnership. Backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, MGX aims to advance AI infrastructure and has been in talks to invest in OpenAI’s next funding round.
With major players like BlackRock, Microsoft, and Nvidia involved, the Global AI Investment Partnership is set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of AI infrastructure, addressing the challenges of scaling AI technologies while driving innovation in energy and digital infrastructure.
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