Nvidia and Elon Musk's xAI have joined a consortium supported by Microsoft, investment fund MGX, and BlackRock to enhance AI infrastructure in the U.S. This collaboration comes as the global race to lead in AI technology intensifies.
The consortium aims to initially invest over $30 billion in AI-related projects, marking one of the largest initiatives to fund data centers and energy facilities necessary for powering AI applications like ChatGPT.
This development follows the announcement of Stargate, a private sector AI infrastructure initiative led by U.S. President Donald Trump, with backing from SoftBank Group, OpenAI, and Oracle, which plans to mobilize up to $500 billion.
Investors have already committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with the remainder anticipated over the next four years.
The consortium, which includes BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, has rebranded itself as AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP). Nvidia will continue serving as a technical advisor.
Training AI models and processing large datasets require significant computational power, which in turn increases energy consumption. To meet these demands, technology companies are deploying thousands of chips in clusters, resulting in a heightened need for specialized data centers.
To finance the computing and power requirements, the consortium seeks to raise up to $100 billion, including debt financing, from investors, asset owners, and corporations.
AIP has garnered considerable capital and partner interest since its inception in September, though it has not disclosed the total funds raised to date.
The group also includes GE Vernova and utility firm NextEra Energy, with NextEra contributing to supply-chain planning and high-efficiency energy solutions. AIP stated that its investments will prioritize U.S. partners and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.