BlackRock, Nvidia-backed group strikes $40 billion data center deal to fuel AI boom

(Reuters) -An investment consortium that includes BlackRock, Nvidia, xAI and Microsoft will acquire Aligned Data Centers in a deal worth $40 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. The deal underscores an intensifying race to expand the costly, supply-constrained infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence technology, as companies rush to build the most sophisticated AI models. The acquisition follows a slew of mega-deals focused on securing coveted compute capacity. ChatGPT creator OpenAI has in recent weeks unveiled agreements totaling about 26 gigawatts of computing capacity, enough to power roughly 20 million U.S. homes. The investment consortium, dubbed the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), has an initial target of deploying $30 billion of equity capital, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt. This is AIP's first investment. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. "With this investment in Aligned Data Centers, we further our goal of delivering the infrastructure necessary to power the future of AI, " said Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock and chairman of AIP. AIP's anchor investors also include the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore's state-owned investor Temasek. Aligned designs, builds and operates data centers for the hyperscalers, neocloud and enterprises. Its portfolio includes 50 campuses and more than 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity, including assets under development, located across the U.S. and Latin America. Aligned will remain headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and will be led by CEO Andrew Schaap. OpenAI last week unveiled a 6-gigawatt AI chip supply deal with AMD that includes an option to buy a stake in the chipmaker, days after disclosing that Nvidia plans to invest up to $100 billion in the startup and provide it with data center systems with at least 10 gigawatts of capacity. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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