According to a report in the Financial Times, BlackRock, a large asset management company, is preparing to jointly launch an artificial intelligence investment fund of more than US$30 billion with technology giant Microsoft to build data centers and energy projects. Meet the growing demands brought about by AI.
The financial partnership, launched by BlackRock and its new infrastructure investment arm, Global Infrastructure Partners, will result in one of the largest investment vehicles in Wall Street history, with Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm MGX being a common member of the fund. Partner, fast-growing chipmaker Nvidia will provide consulting on factory design and integration.
This investment vehicle is designed to cope with the staggering power and digital infrastructure demands required to build AI products, which are expected to face severe capacity bottlenecks in the coming years. The energy required for AI computing power far exceeds previous technological innovations, and it also puts pressure on existing energy infrastructure.
The plan, known as the Global AI Investment Partnership, seeks to raise up to $30 billion in equity investment and use the funds to support up to $70 billion in additional debt financing.
BlackRock highlights the energy industry as one of its most important growth opportunities. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement:
“Mobilizing private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centers and power will unlock trillions of dollars in long-term investment opportunities.”
"Accelerated computing and generative AI are driving the growing demand for AI infrastructure in the next industrial revolution," Huida founder Jen-Hsun Huang said in a statement.
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