Key Takeaways
·A consortium including BlackRock, Nvidia, and Microsoft said it agreed to buy Aligned Data Centers in deal valued at $40 billion.
·Aligned Data Centers is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing data center firms.
AI darling Nvidia just struck another big data center deal—this time as part of a group with Microsoft, BlackRock, and others.
A consortium including BlackRock (BLK), Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT) said Wednesday it would buy AI data center infrastructure company Aligned Data Centers in an agreement valued at $40 billion.
Aligned Data Centers is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing data center firms, and the group said the purchase “will fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure.”
Why This Is Significant
The massive deal could be taken as another strong signal of AI demand expectations, with Nvidia, Microsoft, and BlackRock making big bets on AI-driven growth.
The deal marks the latest in a string of high-profile agreements and partnerships for AI chip leader Nvidia, and infrastructure deals for BlackRock, which has been eying energy providers as another way to ride the AI boom.
BlackRock CEO and AIP Chair Larry Fink said that with the acquisition, “we further our goal of delivering the infrastructure necessary to power the future of AI, while offering our clients attractive opportunities to participate in its growth.”
Shares of Nvidia and Microsoft pared back early gains and were down about 1% in recent trading. Shares of BlackRock were less than 1% lower.
This article has been updated since it was first published for clarity and to reflect more recent stock price values.
Read the original article on Investopedia
