BlackRock and Microsoft plan to launch a $30 billion AI investment fund for building data centers and energy projects

According to a report by the Financial Times, large asset management company BlackRock is preparing to launch a $30 billion artificial intelligence investment fund with tech giant Microsoft to build data centers and energy projects to meet the growing demand brought by AI.

This financial partnership initiated by BlackRock and its newly established infrastructure investment division, Global Infrastructure Partners, will lead to one of the largest investment vehicles in Wall Street history. Microsoft and Abu Dhabi backed investment firm MGX are the general partners of the fund, and fast-growing chip manufacturer Nvidia will provide consulting on factory design and integration.

This investment tool aims to address the staggering demand for electricity and digital infrastructure required to build AI products, and is expected to face serious capacity bottlenecks in the coming years. The energy required for AI computing power far exceeds that of previous technological innovations, and also puts pressure on existing energy infrastructure.

The plan is called the Global AI Investment Partnership, which seeks to raise up to $30 billion in equity investments and use the funds to support up to $70 billion in additional debt financing.

BlackRock emphasizes that the energy industry is one of its most important growth opportunities. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated in a statement:

Mobilizing private capital to build AI infrastructure such as data centers and electricity will unlock long-term investment opportunities worth trillions of dollars

Huang Renxun, founder of Huida, stated in a statement that "Accelerated computing and generative AI are driving the growing demand for AI infrastructure in the next industrial revolution