Asianfin -- BlackRock, Microsoft, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and Abu Dhabi-based MGX have announced the creation of the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP), a major new initiative aimed at advancing AI infrastructure.
The partnership is set to raise $30 billion in private equity capital, with the potential to mobilize up to $100 billion when including debt financing. This funding will support the development and expansion of data centers and energy infrastructure necessary to power AI technologies.
GAIIP will primarily focus its investments in the U.S., targeting efficient scaling of data centers along with energy and decarbonization efforts. The partnership aims to address the growing demand for computing power driven by the rapid advancement of AI, which is also increasing the need for substantial energy resources.
The surge in data center growth and energy demands has posed challenges for tech companies' decarbonization goals. For instance, Microsoft reported that its Scope 3 emissions for 2023 were over 30% higher than in 2020, primarily due to expanded data centers supporting AI.
Google and Amazon have also highlighted the impact of AI-related energy consumption on their sustainability targets and have increased their investments in clean energy to address this issue.
The rising demand for clean energy has had broader implications for climate initiatives across various sectors. For example, CarbonCapture, a climate tech company, recently canceled a major carbon capture project in Wyoming due to heightened competition for renewable energy from data center operators.
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella emphasized, "We are committed to ensuring AI drives innovation and growth across every sector of the economy. The Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership will help us achieve this vision by uniting financial and industry leaders to build and sustain the infrastructure of the future."
The partnership aligns with BlackRock's recent focus on mega-trends in investment, including infrastructure and energy transition. BlackRock's planned acquisition of GIP underscores its belief in the rapid growth of infrastructure investments, driven by global demand for upgraded digital infrastructure, supply chain transformations, and trends in decarbonization and energy security.
"Leveraging private capital to build AI infrastructure, such as data centers and power facilities, will unlock trillions in long-term investment opportunities. Data centers are foundational to the digital economy, and these investments will drive economic growth, create jobs, and foster AI technology innovation," said BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink.
Nvidia will support GAIIP by leveraging its expertise in AI data centers and AI factories. Accelerated computing and generative AI are driving increasing demand for AI infrastructure in the next industrial revolution, said Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
Nvidia will use its full-stack computing platform expertise to support GAIIP and its portfolio companies in designing and integrating AI factories to drive industry innovation, he added.
Asianfin——貝萊德、微軟、全球基礎設施合作伙伴(GIP)和總部位於阿布扎比的MGX宣佈成立全球人工智能基礎設施投資夥伴關係(GAIIP),這是一項旨在推進人工智能基礎設施的重大新計劃。
該合作伙伴關係將私下籌集300億美元 股權資本, 如果包括債務融資, 有可能籌集多達1,000億美元.這筆資金將支持開發和擴展爲人工智能技術提供動力所必需的數據中心和能源基礎設施。
GAIIP將主要投資於美國,目標是有效擴展數據中心以及能源和脫碳工作。該合作伙伴關係旨在滿足人工智能快速發展推動的對計算能力的不斷增長的需求,這也增加了對大量能源的需求。
數據中心增長和能源需求的激增對科技公司的脫碳目標構成了挑戰。例如,微軟報告稱,其2023年的範圍3排放量比2020年增加了30%以上,這主要是由於支持人工智能的數據中心擴大。
谷歌和亞馬遜還強調了與人工智能相關的能耗對其可持續發展目標的影響,並增加了對清潔能源的投資以解決這個問題。
對清潔能源的需求不斷上升,對各領域的氣候舉措產生了更廣泛的影響。例如,氣候技術公司CarbonCapture最近取消了懷俄明州的一個大型碳捕集項目,原因是數據中心運營商對可再生能源的競爭加劇。
微軟董事長兼首席執行官薩蒂亞·納德拉強調說:「我們致力於確保人工智能推動各個經濟領域的創新和增長。全球人工智能基礎設施投資夥伴關係將聯合金融和行業領導者建設和維護未來的基礎設施,從而幫助我們實現這一願景。」
該合作伙伴關係與貝萊德最近對包括基礎設施和能源轉型在內的投資大趨勢的關注相吻合。貝萊德計劃對GIP的收購凸顯了其對基礎設施投資快速增長的信念,這得益於全球對升級數字基礎設施、供應鏈轉型以及脫碳和能源安全趨勢的需求。
「利用私人資本建設人工智能基礎設施,例如數據中心和電力設施,將釋放數萬億美元的長期投資機會。數據中心是數字經濟的基礎,這些投資將推動經濟增長,創造就業機會,促進人工智能技術創新。」 貝萊德董事長兼首席執行官拉里·芬克說。
英偉達將利用其在人工智能數據中心和人工智能工廠方面的專業知識來支持GAIIP。英偉達創始人兼首席執行官黃延森表示,加速計算和生成式人工智能正在推動下一次工業革命中對人工智能基礎設施的需求不斷增長。
他補充說,Nvidia將利用其全棧計算平台專業知識來支持GAIIP及其投資組合公司設計和整合人工智能工廠,以推動行業創新。