Summary
- This is the first deal for the AI infrastructure partnership, which was formed last year.
- Aligned runs around 80 data centers and has 5 GW of current and planned capacity.
- AI companies are computing to secure computing power. OpenAI alone has signed deals for 26 GW.
- Morgan Stanley estimates that global spending on AI infrastructure will reach $400 billion this year.
A group of investors, including BlackRock, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, is buying one of the world’s largest data center operators. The deal, worth $40 billion, will give them access to nearly 80 facilities and valuable AI computing capacity.
The group is buying US-based aligned data centers from Australian Macquire Asset Management, announced on Wednesday. This is the first deal for the AI infrastructure partnership, which was formed last year and includes Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX and Elon Musk’s startup xAI among its backers.
With this funding of AI-Lined Data Centers, we further our goal of delivering the infrastructure necessary to power the future of AI, said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who also serves as the Chairman of the AI Infrastructure Partnership.
Deals To Secure Chips and Infrastructure
This acquisition is the latest in a series of major deals involving big tech and Silicon Valley start-ups driven by the rapid growth of AI.
OpenAI, an important player in the AI boom, recently made deals with chipmakers like NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom. These agreements could cost over $1 trillion and secure about 26 GW of computing capacity, which is enough to power around 20 million US homes.
Facebook is building several large AI data centers:
- One called Prometheus is expected to go online in 2026.
- Another Hyperion can scale up to 5 GW.
Aligned Data Centers, a privately held company, currently has more than 5 GW of operational and planned capacity across 50 campuses in the US and Latin America.
Joe Tigay, a portfolio manager at Nvidia shareholder Equity Armor Investments, said this acquisition shows how valuable data center assets have become for investors.
They are looking to expand to meet AI demand and optimize for it rapidly.
Spending Surges As Interest Grows
Aligned, founded in 2013, has benefited from the surge in AI infrastructure spending. Earlier this year, it raised $12 billion in equity and debt, representing one of the largest private capital injections into a data center company.
According to its website, Allianz customers include the cloud computing platform Nutanix and IT services provider Datto. Macquire, which first invested in Allianz in 2018, said the company also owns land with access to considerable near-term power capacity in major markets.
Shares of Allianz’s publicly listed competitors, such as Applied Digital, have risen more than four times this year. On Wednesday, Applied Digital shares increased by 5%.
The investment group buying Aligned also includes the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek. The group aims to deploy $30 billion in equity capital at first, with the potential to reach $100 billion, including debt. They have not said how much each partner contributed to the equity value of Wednesday’s deal.
NVIDIA and Aligned declined to comment. The investors also did not immediately respond to requests for more details about the deal.
All major parties in the consortium are showing the strength of the AI ecosystem, said Hendi Susanto, portfolio manager at NVIDIA investor Gabelli Funds.
Aligned will remain headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with CEO Andrew Schaap, according to the investor group’s statement, when the deal closes in the first half of 2026.
Source: BlackRock, Nvidia-backed group strikes $40 billion AI data center deal
