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Microsoft and BlackRock want to raise $100 billion to 'emancipate themselves from the shackles' of insufficient power and increase data centers for their ambitious AI dreams
By Kevin Okemwa,
8 days ago
What you need to know
Microsoft and BlackRock have partnered to raise $30 billion to satisfy their AI needs, including new data centers and sufficient power supply.
BlackRock's CEO admits AI efforts are expensive and could require multi-trillions of dollars to finance when building data centers worldwide.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the initiative will expedite gathering resources to "build the infrastructure of the future and power it in a sustainable way."
For context, Microsoft and BlackRock are part of the Global Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP) alongside other Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which specialize in investing in, owning, and operating some of the largest assets in energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and more.
GAIIP aims to raise $30 billion of private equity capital, which could help the group leverage up to $100 billion from investors, including debt financing. In an interview, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink indicated:
"The need to build out data centers globally is multi-trillions of dollars to finance. This is just a great example of the capital markets building out infrastructure and building out the opportunities and new technologies."
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the initiative will expedite the process of pulling resources required to "build the infrastructure of the future and power it in a sustainable way." "We are committed to ensuring AI helps advance innovation and drives growth across every sector of the economy," Nadella added.
Lack of sufficient power continues to cripple in AI advances
Recently, most companies dabbling in the AI landscape have openly shown interest in making their efforts more sustainable, affordable, and environmentally friendly. Part of this process includes developing massive data centers that can be used to train and improve the capabilities of their AI-powered offerings.
This has resulted in a high demand for GPUs from NVIDIA. As it seems, the chip maker is reportedly facing a supply-and-demand problem. According to leaked emails between Elon Musk and NVIDIA , the billionaire asked the chipmaker to prioritize processor shipments to X and xAI ahead of Tesla due to the shortage of AI chips.
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