Nvidia, Microsoft Partner With BlackRock On $40B Aligned Data Centers Deal
An investment fund formed last year by some of the world’s biggest players in artificial intelligence has reached its first deal — and it’s a big one.
The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership — a venture that includes BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, United Arab Emirates-backed artificial intelligence fund MGX, Microsoft and Nvidia — has reached an agreement to purchase the total equity in Aligned Data Centers.
The deal values the company at around $40B, the partners announced Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners was in advanced talks for a $40B deal and that MGX would independently invest. But the announcement confirming the deal is under agreement revealed the involvement of AIP, and thus the investment from Microsoft and AI chip giant Nvidia.
The AIP venture was formed in September 2024 with an initial target of raising and deploying $30B in equity into developing data centers and other AI-related infrastructure. Including debt investments, the venture could reach up to $100B of investment, the partners said at the time. And the Aligned deal is the first step in that investment.
“AI is reshaping every sector of the global economy,” Global Infrastructure Partners Chairman and CEO Bayo Ogunlesi said in a release. “By combining Aligned’s scalable, adaptable platform with AIP’s capital and capabilities, we will build the infrastructure to support innovation at scale — creating resilient, sustainable communities and unlocking transformative growth worldwide.”
Aligned Data Centers designs, builds and operates data centers primarily across the U.S. and Latin America. It has 50 data center campuses and more than 5 gigawatts operating and planned.
It was previously owned by private infrastructure funds managed by Sydney-based Macquarie Asset Management and co-investors. In January, it completed a $12B equity and debt raise led by Macquarie.
The Aligned deal is expected to close in the first half of next year. Aligned plans to remain in Dallas and continue to be headed by its leadership team, including CEO Andrew Schaap.
“Partnering with the Consortium will accelerate our mission to deliver the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s digital economy,” Schaap said. “With AIP, MGX, and GIP’s global reach, extensive resources, and deep expertise across AI, energy, and finance, we are poised to scale faster, innovate further, and redefine what’s possible in sustainable data center infrastructure.”
Nvidia, the AI chip manufacturer that has skyrocketed to a market cap of more than $4T, in recent months has ramped up its investment into data center operators. In September, it reached a deal to invest $100B in OpenAI to support new data center development.
AI skeptics have pointed to this type of circular financing, in which Nvidia is investing in the largest customers that buy its chips, as a sign of a bubble. But data center real estate leaders told Bisnow it isn't an exact parallel to the dot-com bubble, in which circular financing took the form of debt rather than equity, and they largely downplayed the fears of a bubble bursting and damaging the data center market.
