BlackRock Plugs Into AI With a $40 Billion Power Surge
A $40 billion bet positions BlackRock at the center of AI’s digital infrastructure boom.
BlackRock Inc. is moving deeper into the digital future with one of its boldest bets yet. Its Global Infrastructure Partners arm is in advanced talks to acquire Aligned Data Centers, a Plano, Texas-based operator with sprawling assets across the Americas. The deal, valued at about $40 billion, would instantly rank among the largest transactions of the year and signal how aggressively investors are positioning themselves to capitalize on the artificial intelligence revolution.
Aligned is no small player. With 50 campuses and 78 data centers under management and development, it has become a central figure in the industry’s rapid expansion. Earlier this year, the company secured $12 billion in equity and debt commitments from investors including Macquarie, underlining the confidence the market has in its growth. Aligned has also been at the table in Washington, meeting with officials about speeding up the buildout of AI infrastructure, showing its influence extends beyond just bricks and servers.
The deal also brings in Mubadala Investment Co. through its AI-focused vehicle MGX, which has been exploring up to $25 billion in fundraising for AI infrastructure. Mubadala already has exposure to Aligned, but its fresh participation in this deal would strengthen ties with BlackRock and reinforce its broader bet that data centers will define the future of computing.
BlackRock’s ambitions don’t stop at data centers. The firm has also been linked to a potential acquisition of AES Corp., a power company valued at roughly $38 billion including debt. The logic is clear: data centers require staggering amounts of electricity, and owning the energy sources alongside the infrastructure creates a self-reinforcing ecosystem. It’s a play that shows BlackRock isn’t just chasing digital assets but securing the fuel that makes them possible.
Yet, questions linger. Investors are pouring capital into AI infrastructure at a breakneck pace, from Meta’s $29 billion financing for a Louisiana data center to Oracle’s $18 billion bond raise to support OpenAI. But as Bryan Yeo, group CIO at GIC, recently warned, there’s a risk of a bubble if AI adoption doesn’t deliver on the lofty expectations already priced into valuations. The concern is straightforward: if AI services don’t produce the revenues fast enough, the infrastructure could outpace demand.
For BlackRock, however, the upside outweighs the risks. Its acquisition of GIP for $12.5 billion last year cemented its position in the global infrastructure space, giving it both the expertise and balance sheet to pursue megadeals like this. Shares in BlackRock are up 13% this year, reflecting investor confidence in its ability to anticipate and capitalize on long-term trends.
If completed, the Aligned acquisition would mark a turning point, placing the world’s largest asset manager at the heart of the AI economy. Data centers are no longer just server farms—they are the factories of the digital age. By tying them to power generation, sovereign partnerships, and deep pools of global capital, BlackRock is crafting a strategy that could define its role in technology’s next great leap.
Conclusion
BlackRock’s near-$40 billion bid for Aligned Data Centers is more than a deal—it’s a declaration. The future of AI rests not only on algorithms and chips but on the infrastructure that sustains them. By moving to control this backbone, BlackRock is making a bet that AI isn’t just hype, but the foundation of decades of growth. Whether this wager proves prescient or premature will depend on whether AI delivers the economic transformation its backers believe is inevitable.