BlackRock, Nvidia-backed group strikes $40 billion AI data center deal

An investor group including BlackRock, Microsoft and Nvidia is buying one of the world's biggest data center operators with nearly 80 facilities in a deal worth $40 billion to secure coveted computing capacity for artificial intelligence. 

The purchase of US-based Aligned Data Centers from Australian Macquarie Asset Management on Wednesday is the first deal for the AI Infrastructure Partnership formed last year which includes Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX and Elon Musk's startup xAI among its backers. 

"With this investment in Aligned 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 SNAP UP CHIPS AND INFRASTRUCTURE  The acquisition is the latest in a series of big-ticket deals involving Big Tech and Silicon Valley startups that has been fueled by the boom in AI. 

Major tech companies including Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta, Microsoft and CoreWeave, are on track to spend $400 billion on AI infrastructure this year, Morgan Stanley estimates. 

OpenAI, the startup at the heart of the AI boom, struck deals in recent weeks with chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom that may cost over $1 trillion to secure about 26 gigawatts of computing capacity, enough to power roughly 20 million US homes. 

Meta Platforms is building several multi-gigawatt AI data centers, including one called Prometheus due to come online in 2026 and another, Hyperion, that can scale up to 5 gigawatts. 

Privately-held Aligned Data Centers currently has over 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity located across 50 campuses in the US and Latin America. 

Joe Tigay, portfolio manager at Nvidia shareholder Equity Armor Investments, said the acquisition highlights the growing value of data center assets for investors. 

"They’re looking at rapid expansion to meet AI demand and optimize for it." 

SPENDING SURGE AS INTEREST BOOMS 

Founded in 2013, Aligned has been a big winner of the AI infrastructure spending boom, raising $12 billion in equity and debt earlier this year in one of the largest private capital injections into a data center company. 

Its customers include cloud-computing platform Nutanix and IT services provider Datto, according to its website. The company also has a land portfolio with access to significant near-term power capacity in key markets, said Macquarie, which first invested in the company in 2018. 

Shares of its publicly listed rivals, such as Applied Digital, have soared more than four-fold this year. 

Applied Digital shares jumped 5% on Wednesday. 

The investment group buying Aligned, which also includes Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore state-owned investor Temasek as backers, has an initial target of deploying $30 billion of equity capital, with the potential of reaching $100 billion including debt. It has not disclosed how much each partner has contributed to the group nor the equity value of Wednesday's deal. 

Nvidia and Aligned declined to comment, while the investors did not immediately respond to requests seeking more details on the deal. 

"All the major parties in that consortium, they 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, under CEO Andrew Schaap when the deal closes in the first half of 2026, the investor group said in its statement.