An investor consortium including BlackRock, Microsoft, and Nvidia is acquiring Aligned Data Centers, a U.S.-based operator with nearly 80 facilities, in a $40 billion deal aimed at securing computing capacity for artificial intelligence applications. The deal, announced Wednesday, is the first acquisition by the AI Infrastructure Partnership, which also counts Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX and Elon Musk’s 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 chairs the AI Infrastructure Partnership.
The acquisition comes amid a surge in AI-related infrastructure spending. Major technology firms—including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and CoreWeave—are projected to invest $400 billion this year on AI infrastructure, according to Morgan Stanley. OpenAI alone has recently signed deals with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom potentially worth over $1 trillion to secure approximately 26 gigawatts of computing capacity, enough to power roughly 20 million U.S. homes.
Aligned Data Centers, founded in 2013, operates over 5 gigawatts of current and planned capacity across 50 campuses in the U.S. and Latin America. The company has raised $12 billion in equity and debt this year, marking one of the largest private capital injections into a data center firm. Its clients include cloud platform Nutanix and IT services provider Datto.
Portfolio managers say the acquisition underscores the growing value of data center assets amid AI expansion. Joe Tigay of Nvidia shareholder Equity Armor Investments commented, “They’re looking at rapid expansion to meet AI demand and optimize for it.” Hendi Susanto, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, added, “All the major parties in that consortium, they are showing the strength of the AI ecosystem.”
The AI Infrastructure Partnership, which also includes the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore’s Temasek, has an initial plan to deploy $30 billion in equity capital, potentially reaching $100 billion when including debt. The group has not disclosed the specific contributions from each partner or the equity portion of the Aligned acquisition.
Aligned Data Centers will remain headquartered in Dallas, Texas, under CEO Andrew Schaap, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Shares of publicly listed rivals, such as Applied Digital, have surged more than four-fold this year, highlighting investor enthusiasm for AI-focused data center operators. Applied Digital shares rose 5% on Wednesday following the announcement.
This acquisition is part of a broader wave of deals by Big Tech and Silicon Valley startups as the AI boom drives unprecedented demand for high-performance computing infrastructure.
