An investor consortium that includes BlackRock, Microsoft, and Nvidia has announced the purchase of one of the world’s largest data center operators, Aligned Data Centers, in a $40 billion agreement aimed at expanding computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
The acquisition from Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management marks the first major deal by the AI Infrastructure Partnership, a global investment alliance formed last year. The partnership also includes Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund 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 chairman of the AI Infrastructure Partnership.
The purchase reflects the growing rush among major technology companies to secure computing power and data storage capacity amid soaring global demand for AI development. Morgan Stanley estimates that tech giants including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and CoreWeave are collectively on track to spend around $400 billion on AI infrastructure this year.
OpenAI, the company driving much of the AI boom, has recently signed agreements with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom worth more than $1 trillion to secure about 26 gigawatts of computing capacity—enough to power roughly 20 million U.S. homes.
Meta Platforms is also investing heavily in infrastructure, building massive data centers such as Prometheus, which is scheduled to go online in 2026, and Hyperion, which will have a potential capacity of 5 gigawatts.
Founded in 2013, Aligned Data Centers operates and develops facilities across 50 campuses in the U.S. and Latin America, offering more than 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity. Earlier this year, it raised $12 billion in equity and debt financing, one of the largest private funding rounds in the data center sector.
“Data center assets are becoming extremely valuable,” said Joe Tigay, portfolio manager at Equity Armor Investments, a Nvidia shareholder. “They’re looking at rapid expansion to meet AI demand and optimize for it.”
Aligned counts companies such as cloud platform Nutanix and IT services firm Datto among its clients. The company also holds a significant land portfolio with access to near-term power capacity in key North and South American markets, according to Macquarie, which first invested in Aligned in 2018.
The investor group behind the acquisition—which also includes the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore’s Temasek—plans to deploy $30 billion in equity capital, with the potential to reach $100 billion including debt. The partners did not disclose how much each contributed to the deal.
Hendi Susanto, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said the partnership demonstrates the growing strength of the AI ecosystem. “All the major parties in that consortium, they are showing the strength of the AI ecosystem,” he said.
Aligned will continue to operate from its Dallas headquarters under CEO Andrew Schaap when the transaction closes in the first half of 2026, the investor group confirmed in a statement.
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