① BlackRock and Microsoft announced that the two companies plan to launch a fund of over 30 billion dollars to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure to build data centers and energy projects; ② Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and MGX, an investment company supported by Abu Dhabi, are also partners in the fund, and AI chip company Nvidia will provide expertise support.
Financial Services Association, September 18 (Editor Liu Rui) On Tuesday EST, BlackRock and Microsoft announced that the two companies plan to launch a fund of more than 30 billion US dollars to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure to build data centers and energy projects.
The two companies said the partnership will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment capacity, including debt financing.
The announcement of this partnership marks Wall Street's huge investment interest and confidence in the field of artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence models, particularly those used for deep learning and large-scale data processing, require significant computational power, leading to higher energy consumption. The computational requirements of artificial intelligence have determined that technology companies string thousands of chips together to achieve the necessary data processing capabilities, leading to a surge in demand for these specialized data centers.
BlackRock and Microsoft said the fund is called the “Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership” (Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership) and aims to help strengthen the AI supply chain and energy access.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity fund management company to be acquired by BlackRock, and MGX, an Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm, are also partners in the fund, while AI chip company Nvidia will provide expertise support.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement:
“We are committed to ensuring that artificial intelligence helps drive innovation and drive growth in every sector of the economy.” He said the initiative “brings together financial and industry leaders to build the infrastructure of the future and power it in a sustainable way.”
BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink said:
“Mobilizing private capital to build artificial intelligence infrastructure such as data centers and electricity will unlock trillions of dollars in long-term investment opportunities.” “Data centers are the cornerstone of the digital economy, and these investments will help drive economic growth, create jobs, and drive innovation in artificial intelligence technology.”
According to the announcement, the fund will initially seek to release 30 billion US dollars of private equity capital, including debt financing, and the total future investment potential will be as high as 100 billion US dollars. These investments will be mainly in the US, and the rest will be in its partner countries.