News
Microsoft Commits Billions More for AI Infrastructure Fund
- By Gladys Rama
- September 18, 2024
With demand for its Copilot AI solutions on the rise, Microsoft has committed billions of dollars this year to expanding its datacenter footprint, both in the United States and abroad.
It has also sought outside support to bolster its existing infrastructure, for instance partnering with Lumen for its datacenter networking expertise and Oracle for its cloud capacity.
This week, Microsoft took a further step by joining forces with investment giants BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to launch the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP), a new multibillion-dollar fund aimed at datacenter investments.
"The capital spending needed for Al infrastructure and the new energy to power it goes beyond what any single company or government can finance," said Microsoft President Brad Smith in the fund's announcement.
Recently formed Abu Dhabi-based AI investment firm MGX is also a financial backer. Nvidia, the current leading AI chipmaker, is named as a supporter, and will provide technical expertise and factory space.
"Accelerated computing and generative Al are driving a growing need for Al infrastructure for the next industrial revolution," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
By value, the new fund is one of the largest AI investments efforts to date. "The partnership will initially seek to unlock $30 billion of private equity capital over time from investors, asset owners, corporates, which in turn will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing," the companies said.
GAIIP will focus its investments around building new datacenters to accommodate the massive compute power that modern AI workloads demand, as well as the energy infrastructure to power them. It aims to build a "broad ecosystem" of non-exclusive partnerships and an "open architecture" for energy-efficient datacenters.
It will primarily target its investments to support U.S.-based datacenter buildouts, as well as similar projects in partner countries. Increasingly, the U.S. government has been championing homegrown production of AI-optimized hardware, putting significant money into the effort.
"Data centers are the bedrock of the digital economy, and these investments will help power economic growth, create jobs, and drive Al technology innovation," said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
The fund's U.S. focus will "enhance national competitiveness, security, and economic prosperity," added Microsoft's Smith.