Microsoft and Blackrock form group to invest billions in AI
Microsoft and Blackrock are headlining the Global Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Investment Partnership, a new group aiming to mobilize $100 billion to invest in artificial intelligence.
The group, which also includes Global Infrastructure Partners and MGX, will invest in AI data centers and energy infrastructure to power these facilities. According to a press release, the investments will be “chiefly in the United States fueling AI innovation and economic growth, and the remainder will be invested in U.S. partner countries.”
“We are committed to ensuring AI helps advance innovation and drives growth across every sector of the economy,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said. “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.”
Tech leader Nvidia will support the partnership by “offering its expertise” to AI facilities as the partnership engages with industry leaders to enhance supply chains and energy sourcing.
“Nvidia will use its expertise as a full stack computing platform to support GAIIP and its portfolio companies on the design and integration of AI factories to propel industry innovation,” Nvidia’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, said of the partnership. “Accelerated computing and generative AI are driving a growing need for AI infrastructure for the next industrial revolution.”
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The group is initially seeking to unlock $30 billion of private equity capital, which it says will “mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing.”
With the explosion in popularity of AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, creating a spike in demand, tech companies have had to compete with each other to invest in data centers using Nvidia graphics processing units that can run these AI models. Investing in new data centers and power sources “will enable growth and commerce in the future innovation economy,” MGX CEO Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi said.