Asset management firm BlackRock has joined forces with Microsoft, Nvidia, and xAI to purchase Aligned Data Centers (Aligned) through an investment consortium called the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP). Aligned is one of the largest data center companies in the world, having a total of planned and operational capacity of 5GW spread across 50 campuses. According to the company, the data center operator is present globally, including sites in Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Queretaro (Mexico), and Santiago (Chile).
Aside from AIP, other partners in the deal also included MGX, an AI investment firm owned and funded by the Abu Dhabi government in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the Kuwait Investment Authority, and Temasek, a state-owned investment company owned by the Singapore Minister for Finance.
These investments show how state-owned funds are interested in diving into artificial intelligence, either through their own infrastructure, like the Stargate AI project in the UAE, or through monetary contributions to projects like these. Other companies, like Cisco Systems, GE Vernova, and Next Era Energy, are also part of the partnership as technology and power providers.
But what’s more interesting is how some of the biggest names in AI joined together to form AIP. BlackRock, GIP, Microsoft, and MGX founded the partnership in September 2024, with Nvidia and xAI joining later. Even though it took more than a year for the group to make its first purchase, it’s a massive one — the deal is expected to cost $40 billion, making it one of the most expensive data center purchases in history.
This combination of capital and technical expertise would help Aligned stay ahead in the global AI race. “Partnering with the Consortium will accelerate our mission to deliver the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s digital economy,” Aligned Data Centers CEO Andrew 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.” AIP expects to complete the deal by the first half of 2026, provided it passes regulatory oversight.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
