Jakarta, INTI - Google has partnered with Blackstone to form an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud business. This collaboration aims to compete with neocloud players like CoreWeave in the rapidly growing AI computing market.
The project will be funded by an initial US$5 billion (Rp88.5 trillion) in equity capital from Blackstone, which will be the majority shareholder, according to a statement on Monday. Including leverage, the investment will be reportedly worth US$25 billion (Rp442 trillion), said a source familiar with the matter.
Next year, the joint venture targets up to 500 megawatts of computing capacity through data centers using Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). A long-time Google executive, Benjamin Treynor Sloss, has been appointed CEO of the company.
Google and Blackstone Expand Their AI Business
This move is part of a growing global trend of investment in AI infrastructure and data centers to support the computing needs of artificial intelligence models. Google itself continues to expand its AI chip development and data center capacity to meet surging demand from both internal and external customers.
The new business will compete with neocloud market players, such as CoreWeave and Nebius Group NV, which offer computing power to AI service providers. Many of the companies are supported by Nvidia Corp. and rely on the company's graphics processing units (GPU).
Meanwhile, Blackstone has also been actively expanding its data center business through the IPO of Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust, the acquisition of data center operator QTS in 2021, and the purchase of Australian computing company AirTrunk in 2024.
Earlier this month, Blackstone held an initial public offering (IPO) for Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc., an entity established to acquire data centers. The IPO is aimed to purchase already built and leased properties that are benefiting from the AI boom.
Blackstone, which manages over US$1.3 trillion in assets, claims to be the world's largest data center provider. The company acquired data center operator QTS in 2021 and Australian computing services provider AirTrunk in 2024.
Conclusion
Google and Blackstone have formed a joint venture in the AI cloud sector to compete in the rapidly growing AI computing market. The project is backed by an initial investment of US$5 billion from Blackstone, bringing the total investment to US$25 billion, and targets 500 megawatts of computing capacity by next year. The data center infrastructure will utilize Google's TPU AI chips.
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