Microsoft and Blackrock team up on $30 billion AI investment
New investments will build data centers and energy projects to help keep up with increasing demand
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A partnership has been announced betweenMicrosoftand BlackRock in the form of an infrastructure investment unit, the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP).Artificial intelligencehas dominated tech spaces in the last few years, and the rapid rate of investments illustrate the confidence tech firms have in the technologies.
The project will aim to ‘enhance American competitiveness’ by building on US soil. The $30 billion fund is likely to be used to develop infrastructure to help meet the demands of AI, such as data centers and energy projects to create new sources of power for their facilities.This is a crucial consideration when developing AI models, as the tech uses an enormous amount of power and energy to run, as wellas increasing emissionsby as much as 50% for some firms - leaving the industry with a serious task to mitigate its consumption.
Growth Potential
The energy sector has been singled out by BlackRock as one of the leading opportunities for growth. With the initial $30 billion investment, the partnership hopes to eventually mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment capital when including debt financing.
Chief Executive Larry Fink explained, “Mobilising private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centres and power will unlock a multitrillion-dollar long-term investment opportunity,” he said.
“Data centers are the bedrock of the digital economy, and these investments will help power economic growth, create jobs, and drive AI technology innovation.”
Computing requirements for AI have led to a substantial investment into specialized data centers, so much so that the UK government declared thempart of its ‘critical infrastructure’, giving them advanced protections over other tech projects.
ViaFinancial Times
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Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.
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