BlackRock and Nvidia lead $40 billion takeover of Aligned Data Centers

15 October 2025

A NVIDIA logo is pictured on its facility at the High-tech park at Yokne'am, in northern Israel July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Shir Torem

In a dramatic move underscoring how deeply artificial intelligence is reshaping global investment flows, an investor consortium that includes BlackRock, Nvidia, Microsoft, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, Elon Musk’s xAI, Temasek, and others announced on October 15 their plan to acquire Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management for roughly $40 billion. The Dallas-based company operates across the U.S. and Latin America with around 50 campuses and approximately 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity.

The acquisition is the debut transaction for the newly formed Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), a fund created to channel private capital into AI infrastructure. The investor group plans to deploy $30 billion in equity initially, with a potential total capital commitment of $100 billion including debt. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, with Aligned retaining its Dallas headquarters under CEO Andrew Schaap.

The timing of this acquisition comes amid soaring demand for data infrastructure to power generative AI, large language models, and other high-compute applications. Analysts estimate global AI-related infrastructure spending could exceed $400 billion this year alone. OpenAI, for example, has already entered deals with Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom valued in the trillions for processing power.

For BlackRock and Nvidia, this move goes beyond finance and chips it is a bet on the backbone of the digital economy. By securing ownership in the physical infrastructure supporting AI growth, the consortium aims to ensure supply stability, energy efficiency, and control over deployment strategy. Nvidia’s hardware will feed into Aligned’s vast data centers, while BlackRock’s financial power ensures scalability and investor confidence.

Aligned’s track record made it a prime acquisition target. It has previously raised more than $12 billion in equity and debt and expanded into Latin America through its 2023 acquisition of ODATA. Under the new ownership, it is expected to focus on developing AI-optimized data centers, sustainable cooling systems, and renewable energy integration key demands of both regulators and investors.

Still, competition in this arena is fierce. Companies like Equinix, Digital Realty, and Vantage Data Centers are also expanding capacity to meet global AI demand. Challenges such as limited land availability, power grid constraints, and permitting delays could test the consortium’s ambitions. Moreover, the $40 billion bet assumes strong macroeconomic stability and continued enthusiasm for AI investments, both of which could be threatened by interest rate hikes or geopolitical shocks.

Industry observers, however, see strategic depth in the deal. It aligns compute hardware, capital, and infrastructure under a single umbrella, ensuring coordination between hardware innovation and physical deployment. The group’s integrated approach could yield better efficiency than traditional siloed operations.

If successful, the acquisition will signal a new era in the intersection of finance, technology, and infrastructure one where AI’s growth depends as much on real estate, energy, and cooling systems as it does on algorithms and chips.