- Blackstone has been positioning itself to benefit from the AI boom with data centers.
- Founder Steve Schwarzman set a new lofty new goal in an earnings call Thursday.
- He said Blackstone aims to be the biggest investor in AI infrastructure in the world.
It's not surprising when AI, a topic of du jour across corporate America, comes up in an earnings call. But Blackstone cofounder and CEO Steve Schwarzman on Thursday did more than laud the tech's potential — he set an ambitious goal for the private-equity giant to become the biggest investor in the tools and buildings that power AI.
"Blackstone is positioning itself to be the largest financial investor in AI infrastructure in the world," the Blackstone's chairman and CEO said in the call.
By way of explanation, Schwarzman compared the transformational powers of AI to the lightbulb.
"I believe the consequences of AI are as profound as what occurred in 1880 when Thomas Edison patented the electric light bulb," he said on the call. "While it took years to develop commercially viable products, the subsequent buildout of the electric grid over the following decades has parallels to the creation of data centers today to power the AI revolution."
Blackstone expects "approximately $1 trillion of capital expenditures in the United States over the next five years to build and facilitate new data centers with another $1 trillion of capital expenditures outside the United States." Powering AI, he said, will contribute to an estimated "40% increase in electricity demand in the United States over the next decade compared to minimal growth in the last decade."
"We believe these explosive trends will lead to unprecedented investment opportunities for our firm," he concluded.
Earlier this week, Blackstone announced an agreement to acquire Trystar, a Minnesotta-based provider of electrical equipment for backup power solutions, including for data centers.
The firm also recently agreed to invest nearly $1 billion into wind and solar projects with NextEra, the largest public renewables developer in the country.
"We're now focusing on addressing the sector's power needs in many differentiated ways with large-scale platforms in structure, real estate, private credit, and renewable energy," Schwarzman said.
Blackstone's portfolio includes $55 billion worth of data centers, including facilities under construction. The firm is also providing equity and debt capital to AI-related companies, Schwarzman said.
Larry Fink, CEO of asset manager BlackRock, is also eyeing opportunities in AI infrastructure. In the company's first-quarter earnings call in April, Fink compared the firm's $12.5 billion deal for Global Infrastructure Partners to its transformational acquisition of the iShares franchise 15 years ago.
He cited Blackrock's goal of becoming a major capital provider to the data centers and power-generation facilities needed to power AI.
"Demand for all forms of infrastructure is surging around the world, from telecom networks to power generation to transport hubs for data centers and new ways of securing energy," Fink said.
