Microsoft and Blackrock join forces for $30 billion AI investment
A partnership has been announced between Microsoft and BlackRock in the form of an infrastructure investment unit, the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP). Artificial intelligence has dominated the tech sector in recent years and the rapid pace of investment illustrates the confidence tech companies have in the technologies.
The project will aim to “increase American competitiveness” by building on American soil. The $30 billion fund will likely be used to develop infrastructure to help meet the demands of AI, such as data centers and energy projects to create new sources of energy for their facilities.
This is a crucial consideration when developing AI models, as the technology consumes a huge amount of power and energy to run, and as emissions increase for some companies even by 50%, which means the sector faces a serious task in reducing consumption.
Growth potential
The energy sector has been identified by BlackRock as one of the top growth opportunities. With an initial investment of $30 billion, the partnership hopes to eventually mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment capital, including debt financing.
Chief Executive Larry Fink explained: “Mobilizing private capital to build AI infrastructure, such as data centers and energy, will unlock a multi-trillion dollar investment opportunity over the long term,” he said.
“Data centers are the foundation of the digital economy and these investments will boost economic growth, create jobs and drive innovation in AI technology.”
The computing demands of AI have driven substantial investment in specialist data centres, so much so that the UK government has declared them to be the top choice. part of its ‘critical infrastructure’giving them better protection than other technology projects.
Via Financial Times
