BlackRock and Microsoft commit 100 billion dollars in capital for AI infrastructure development and deployment.

BlackRock Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have joined a newly launched Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership that plans to invest up to $100 billion to build data centers and energy projects supporting artificial intelligence development. The partnership also includes Global Infrastructure Partners — an investment company acquired by BlackRock for $12.5 billion in January — and Dubai investment company MGX.

The partnership will direct investments toward new and expanded data centers to meet growing computing power demand, as well as energy infrastructure to create new power sources for these facilities. Investments will be made primarily in the U.S., with the remainder allocated to "U.S. partner countries." The partnership will operate under an open architecture and broad ecosystem model, providing full access on a nonexclusive basis for a diverse range of partners and companies. While not listed as an investor, Nvidia Corp., the world's largest AI chip maker, will advise the partnership on factory design and integration.

The partnership intends to unlock $30 billion in private equity capital from investors, asset owners and corporates for its initial investments, which will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing. The group also plans to engage actively with industry leaders to enhance AI supply chains and energy sourcing.

"We are committed to ensuring AI helps advance innovation and drives growth across every sector of the economy," said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive of Microsoft. "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."

Microsoft's participation in the partnership follows multiple infrastructure investment commitments made this year: $2.2 billion for cloud and AI infrastructure in Malaysia on May 2, $3.3 billion for an AI data center in Wisconsin on May 4, and $3.2 billion for data center capacity expansion in Sweden on June 1. Microsoft's largest external AI investment remains its relationship with OpenAI, in which it has invested approximately $13 billion since 2019, with possibly more funding forthcoming.