Brookfield Corporation (BN +0.17%) believes AI could become the most impactful general-purpose technology in human history. However, there's a caveat. The technology will require a massive buildout of physical infrastructure to support its adoption. The global investment firm expects total spending on AI-related infrastructure will top $7 trillion over the next decade.
The company is at the forefront of capitalizing on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to build out the digital backbone infrastructure of the future. It's launching a $100 billion AI infrastructure program to support the needs of the AI industry. It counts semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA +2.92%) among its founding investors in this initiative.
Image source: Nvidia.
Introducing the Brookfield AI Infrastructure Fund
Brookfield Asset Management (BAM +1.27%), a leading global alternative investment manager formed by Brookfield Corporation, is launching its first Brookfield AI Infrastructure Fund (BAIF). The investment manager aims to raise $10 billion in equity capital in the fund to invest in backbone AI infrastructure. It plans to invest across the entire spectrum of AI's infrastructure needs, from land and energy to data centers and compute capacity. Brookfield has already secured $5 billion in capital commitments from a select group of leading institutional investors and industry players, including its parent company (Brookfield Corporation), Nvidia, and the Kuwait Investment Authority.
The company intends to leverage that equity capital by bringing on co-investors and utilizing prudent financing to acquire up to $100 billion in AI infrastructure assets. Brookfield is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the massive need for AI infrastructure investments, given its expertise across infrastructure (data and energy), renewable power, and providing capital solutions. The company has already invested over $100 billion into digital infrastructure and clean power across its various funds and through its listed affiliates (Brookfield Infrastructure and Brookfield Renewable).
NYSE: BN
Key Data Points
Brookfield's initial AI infrastructure fund will focus on investing in the physical infrastructure assets that support the delivery of AI across four core aspects:
- AI-factories (purpose-built AI-focused data centers) built primarily on Nvidia's DSX Vera Rubin-ready reference design.
- Dedicated behind-the-meter power solutions (i.e., power produced or stored on-site).
- Compute infrastructure, including integrated solutions tailored to meet the needs of governments and large companies.
- Strategic adjacencies and capital partnerships.
"AI infrastructure demands land, power, and purpose-built supercomputers," stated Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in the press release announcing the fund's launch. The company's partnership with Brookfield as a founding investor in the fund "brings all of these elements together in a ready-to-deploy AI cloud," stated Jensen.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
Planting the seeds for future growth
Brookfield has already secured its first seed investments for the fund. It previously announced plans to invest up to $5 billion to deploy Bloom Energy's (BE +3.60%) advanced fuel cell technology into data centers. This framework agreement could see Bloom Energy install up to 1 gigawatt of these behind-the-meter power solutions at traditional data centers and AI factories. Bloom Energy and Brookfield are collaborating to design and deliver this power technology to AI factories. They're working on potentially deploying this technology to a site in Europe that they hope to announce by the end of this year.
Brookfield is also launching Radiant, a new Nvidia cloud partner. This cloud service provider is building an Nvidia GPU cloud based on the semiconductor company's DSX blueprint. That design is fast to deploy, enabling users to quickly start generating revenue. Radiant will provide full-stack AI services to clients, including governments. Brookfield has already signed landmark partnerships with France and Sweden to invest up to $30 billion into AI infrastructure in those countries.
Becoming an AI powerhouse
Brookfield Corporation sees immense potential in AI. That's leading the global investment firm to lead the charge in building the critical physical infrastructure needed to support this technology. These investments could create a lot of value for the company's clients (including investors like Nvidia) and its shareholders. Brookfield's strategic focus on AI infrastructure and expertise across the value chain makes the company and its affiliates (Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Infrastructure, and Brookfield Renewable) some of the most compelling under-the-radar ways to invest in the AI infrastructure boom.
