Who’s Funding the Data Center Boom?

Overall market growth in data centers and related infrastructure is projected to approach $3 trillion over the next five years, with about 100 GWs of new capacity to come online, creating $1.2 trillion in real estate asset values. Total data center investment in 2025 was nearly $500 billion, and it is expected to reach $650 billion in 2026, according to Reuters.

Who’s providing the capital for all this growth? Largely, it’s the following entities. Whether as users, equity partners or private lenders, these investors are fueling the big AI infrastructure buildout.

The Hyperscalers 

Combined, hyperscalers Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet (Google), and Apple invested about $350 billion in data centers and supporting infrastructure in 2025 and plan to spend about $650 billion more in 2026.

Apple Inc. launched a four-year, $600 billion capex investment plan in 2025 aimed at expanding domestic manufacturing and AI infrastructure. It is expected to expend about $13 billion in 2026, which includes a facility in Houston to assemble servers and acquire 100 million advanced chips to power its infrastructure, It also  will launch a billion-dollar partnership with Google and hybrid cloud model, The Futurum Group.

Amazon invested $131 billion, including $50 billion in 2025 to its AI and high-performance computing infrastructure for U.S. government users, $15 billion for new data center campuses in Northern Indiana, and $12 billion to fund a massive infrastructure bond offering. It leads the field with a $200 billion capex plan for 2026, most of which is slated for data centers.

Microsoft invested an estimated $80 billion to $88 billion in 2025 to build out AI-enabled data centers and expand infrastructure to meet demand for Azure and AI services. More than half of total invested was used to expand U.S. data center capacity and secure sustainable energy resources.

Microsoft is projected to invest approximately $100 billion to $120 billion in capital expenditures in 2026 to expand its network of more than 400 data centers in over 70 regions worldwide, but the vast majority of capital will be directed toward U.S. data centers and AI infrastructure. This tech giant is launching a global “AI factory” to double its data center footprint over the next two years, and in the first half of fiscal 2026 plans to spend $72.4 billion on infrastructure. Projects include: a $10 billion Portugal Mega Data Center in Sines, a $3.3 billion “AI Factory” in Mount Pleasant, Wis.; expansion of U.S. Cloud Expansion in New Availability Zones in the North Central U.S. region and for Arizona Government officials; and the first stages of a $115 billion “Stargate” AI supercomputer project, developed in partnership with OpenAI.

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) invested $91.4 billion to $93 billion in AI infrastructure, data centers and server capacity in 2025. Key investments included $40 billion to ramp up data center capacity in Texas over the next two years. Alphabet plans to double its capital investment in 2026 to a projected $175 billion to $185 billion, mostly for technical infrastructure to support AI and cloud computing demands. This includes up to $111 billion for AI accelerators, storage and specialized silicon; $74 billion for construction of data centers in Pine Island, Minn., and Wilbrager County, Tex., power infrastructure, and networking equipment; and $4.75 billion to acquire data center operator Intersect.

Meta reported investment of $72.22 billion in capital expenditures last year, which primarily funded construction of new high-efficiency data  centers, GPU cluster expansion and the development of AI hardware, including the MTIA v2 accelerator chip. Meta expects capital investment to range from $115 billion to $135 billion in 2026 to further accelerate AI development. 

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Blackstone

Blackstone is a leading investor in AI and digital infrastructure worldwide. With acquisition of QTS in 2021, the company has amassed a data center portfolio valued at over $70 billion and has a prospective development pipeline exceeding $100 billion.

Blackstone’s 2025 capital deployment for data centers and digital infrastructure included more than $25 billion for the Pennsylvania Digital/Energy Hub, an initiative involving QTS and a joint venture with PPL Corp for power generation. Blackstone’s Infrastructure Strategies fund, which was launched in 2025, also raised $4 billion for data centers, energy transition and transportation. In addition, Blackstone led a $10 billion debt facility for Australian AI data center developer Firmus Technologies.

With $200 billion in “dry powder,” Blackstone is expected to invest billions in global data center and AI infrastructure in 2026, including power grids and colocation of power generation with data centers. Key projects include a $4.65 billion data center in Germany, a $1.2 billion AI infrastructure platform in India and expansion of a $13.97 billion commitment in Aragon, Spain, the first phase of an eight-center development scheduled to begin in Q2 2026.

Blackstone also is financing significant deals for power infrastructure, allowing its data center projects to bypass utility delays with a “bring your own power” model, which includes the $11.5 billion acquisition of TXNM Energy and a joint venture with PPL Corp to build dedicated generation for hyperscalers.

In February, Blackstone announced the formation of a publicly traded company focused on purchasing data centers and providing retail investors access to the AI infrastructure, reported Investing.com. The alternative investment firm is seeking initial capital from sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. 

Blackstone’s Bring Your Own Power model is expected to accelerate data center development by bypassing utility delays to electricity access, according to a Blackstone mid-year 2025 report.

Stonepeak

Stonepeak has six major data center platforms globally, including: Cologix, CoreSite, Digital Edge, Cirion, Princeton Digital Group and Montera Infrastructure. The platforms comprise more than 3.8GW of capacity that is operational or secured. Armed with a $40 billion capex program, the company’s data center platform investments included $1.3 billion of preferred equity in PDG to reinforce its position as a leading provider of hyperscale infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region and support its continued expansion across the region. Expansion of a Singapore-based data center and an initial $1.5 billion equity commitment focused on building hyperscale data centers for AI and cloud workloads.

Stonepeak also entered an agreement to acquire IPB Internet Provider, a leading data center operator in Germany to capitalize on cloud demand overflow to Tier II markets and the shift to AI inferencing.

Stonepeak is targeting significant new capital raises in 2026, between $10 billion to $15 billion, for its next North American infrastructure fund, which will invest in data centers, utilities and transport, as well as the expected close of the $4 billion Asia Infrastructure Fund II this year.

So far in 2026, Digital Edge, a leading developer and operator for interconnection and hyperscale edge data centers across Asia, committed $4.5 billion to build one of Indonesia’s largest AI-ready data center campuses.

Nvidia

Nvidia made massive, direct investments in data center infrastructure in 2025, moving from a component supplier to an active architect and financier of AI factories. It is part of a consortium that has agreed to purchase Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion and plans to invest up to $500 billion over four years in U.S. manufacturing and AI infrastructure. Nvidia also invested $5 billion in Intel to support construction of custom x86 CPUs for its AI infrastructure platforms and initiated a $4.3 billion partnership for AI infrastructure in Malaysia with YTL Power and major projects in Europe and India.

Nvidia’s most significant commitment, however, is the commitment to invest up to $30 billion in OpenAI in 2026, which will drive build-out of 10 gigawatts of data center capacity.

Aligned Data Centers

Aligned Data Centers was acquired by the AIP Consortium, an AI infrastructure partnership formed by Blackrock, for $40 billion, which includes 5 GWs of capacity. This is the first transaction by the consortium, which also includes Global Infrastructure Partners, MGX, Microsoft, and Nvidia. This transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Aligned invested $5 billion in data center and related infrastructure in 2025 and plans to invest $13 billion in 2026. The company’s investment strategy for 2026 will build new network capacity through a mix of master-planned greenfield developments and acquistion of industrial brownfields.

Recent data center investments include include a four-building, 340 MW campus in Conesville, Ohio; two 72 MW data centers in Plano, Tex.; a four-building, 258 MW campus in Frederick, Maryland; a four-building, 288 MW campus in Perkins Township, Ohio, and a four-building, 296 MW campus in Phoenix, Ariz. According Meghan Baivier, CFO of Aligned Data Centers, the company is aggressively future-proofing its growth by securing long-lead equipment and large-scale power-ready land banks ahead of the curve.

Apollo Global Management

Apollo deployed more than $40 billion in nex-gen data centers and infrastructure in 2025, including $3.5 billion for Valor/xAI, a majority stake in Stream Data Centers.

While the firm has not committed to a specific investment figure for 2026, its recent activity indicates a scale of tens of billions of dollars to accelerate compute capacity and digital platforms. It reportedly is a front-runner, along with KKR and Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure, for a $29 to $35 billion loan to Meta to focus on the massive capital requirements of AI and digital infrastructure in 2026. 

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economic Forum, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan characterized this deal as a prime example of how tech giants are now bypassing traditional bank debt in favor of “investment-grade” private credit to fund massive AI infrastructure.

Equinix

Equinix accelerated its investment in data centers and infrastructure in 2025 with capital expenditures of approximately $4.3 billion. As of its Q4 2025 earnings call in February 2026, Equinix has 52 major projects underway globally, including 9 Equinix xScale projects across major metros, such as Chicago, New York, Frankfurt, London, Osaka and Singapore. Since October, Equinix has delivered key projects in Chicago, Dallas, Lagos, Mumbai, Silicon Valley and Washington D.C. 

Estimated investment for 2026 is $3.7 billlion to $4.2 billion, but the company’s “Build Bolder” strategy calls for investment of $20 to $25 billion in strategic capital investments over the next five years, doubling its data center capacity by 2029, as outlined at its June 2025 Investor Day.

As the company pursues its ambitious goals, it has a strong vision for sustainability across its global operations, said Christopher Wellise, vice president of sustainability at Equinix in a recent blog post. “The future of the data center industry depends on digital growth and sustainability that can advance together,” Wellise wrote. “Our vision is to help shape an industry where sustainability acts as a catalyst for innovation, and data center infrastructure is scaled efficiently, transparently and responsibly.”

Digital Realty

Digital Realty projected a substantial investment in data center development, with up to $3.5 billion in the company’s Q2 2025 report and $9 billion in the development pipeline. The company will continue constructing and complete its massive development pipeline in 2026, which includes over 730 MWs.

Digital Realty is focused on expanding its AI-ready data center footprint to new markets, like Bulgaria, through the acquisition of Highly Connect in March 2026, according to a press release. Key 2025-2026 moves include a $373 million power kit deal with Schneider Electric, a 500GWh hydropower deal in Northern Virginia, and a new joint venture to enter Indonesia. The company also signed long-term renewable energy agreements with Current Hydro LLC to procure 500GWh of clean, baseload hydropower from three projects along the Ohio River, Digital Realty reported.

DigitalBridge

DigitalBridge reported deploying $6.9 billion across its digital infrastructure portfolio in 2025, with a heavy emphasis on the AI data center sector. In 2025, the company, which currently has  $115 billion in assets under management, secured $11.7 billion in total capital commitments through its DigitalBridge Partners III fund.

DBP III has already constructed a well-diversified portfolio that includes Vantage Data Centers North America, Yondr Group, Orange Barrel Media, FiberNow and JTOWER.

In December 2025, SoftBank Group announced it would acquire DigitalBridge for approximately $4 billion. The transaction, which will close in the H2 2026, will enable integration of DigitalBridge’s $115 billion digital infrastructure portfolio into SoftBank’s “Artificial Super Intelligence” strategy.

Macquarie Asset Management

Macquarie Asset Management announced $17 billion in investments for data center and digital infrastructure by MAM-managed Aligned in 2025. MAM also announced a partnership with Applied Digital involving up to $5 billion in funding for high-performance computing data centers, which included $900 million for the Ellendale HPC campus and $4.1 billion for future projects. In October 2025, MAM sold its stake in Aligned to the AIP Consortium for $40 million.

The company has continued to ramp up its investment in 2026, focusing on the nexus of digitalization and electrification. It provided £1 billion ($1.35 billion) to back development of a 7-MW campus in Buckinghamshire, U.K., and funded a 204-MW mega campus in Wustermark, Germany. MAM also has agreed to lend up to €117 million ($138 million) to German startup Polarise GmbH to fund the fit-out of a data center for Deutsche Telekom’s industrial AI cloud and will acquire a remaining 50 percent stake in UK-based Last Mile Infrastructure, with the deal expected close this year.

Brookfield

Brookfield has announced a number of multibillion dollar investments in data centers and AI infrastructure over the last couple of years. In November 2025, Brookfield announced a $100 billion AI Infrastructure Program in partnership with Nvidia and the Kuwait Investment Authority. Supported by the Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund, the strategy has raised $5 billion of equity commitments to date.

The company has announced strategic partnerships with Qatar, France and Sweden to expand their data center capacity. In France, Brookfield plans to invest up to a €20 billion ($23.6 billion) over the next five years, which includes €15 billion ($17.71 billion) through its portfolio company Data4 to build a 500 MW data center development and €5 billion ($5.7 billion) across associated AI infrastructure, such as data transfer, chip storage and energy generation.

Blue Owl Capital

Blue Owl Capital aggressively expanded its digital infrastructure portfolio in 2025, providing more than $50 billion in financing for data centers, including $27 billion for a Meta data center campus, a $3 billion partnership with the Qatar Investment Authority and a $1 billion acquisition of IPI Partners. 

Blue Owl Capital’s investment plans for 2026 have not been disclosed, but in February 2026, its Blue Owl Strategic Equity fund closed with over $3 billion in commitments, which provide long-term capital solutions to private equity sponsors.

During Blue Owl Capital’s Q4 report, Blue Owl Co-CEO Marc Lipschultz outlined a 2026 investment strategy focused on accelerating growth in AI infrastructure, digital assets, and alternative credit, while navigating liquidity constraints in some of their private credit funds. 

KKR

KKR has committed approximately $34 billion of equity into digital infrastructure across 23 investments, alongside more than $20 billion in power and renewables. Its portfolio today spans five data center platforms across the U.S., APAC, and EMEA—totaling more than 155 facilities and a 15GW development pipeline—12 fiber platforms reaching nearly 30 million homes, and over 130,000 wireless infrastructure sites across Europe and APAC.

Recent milestones include the recapitalization of Metronet, a leading independent FTTH operator in the U.S.; an investment in Gulf Data Hub, one of the Middle East’s premier data center platforms; and the launch of a multibillion dollar co-located power and data center development in Bosque County, Tex., in partnership with CyrusOne and Calpine.

In January 2026, KKR announced it would invest $1.5 billion in equity in European data center developer Global Technical Realty, along with $400 billion by Oak Hill Capital, to fuel expansion. In February, a KKR-led consortium with Singtel Group fully acquired ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, a Singapore-based, leading data center colocation services provider, at S$13.8 billion ($10.91 billion U.S.) enterprise value.

Recent insights provided by KKR Co-CEOs Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall in a Fortune interview affirm the company’s aggressive growth strategy, with a target of $1 trillion of assets under management by 2030, up from approximately $686 billion in mid-2025.. They said KKR will focus on diversification beyond traditional private equity, specifically targeting insurance, asset-based finance and infrastructure. 

EQT Group

EQT Group reported €16 billion ($18.8 billion) in gross fund investments across private capital and infrastructure strategies in 2025, alongside €14 billion ($16.5 billion) in co-investment opportunities for clients. EQT’s EdgeConneX continued to be a major portfolio company, with 2025 investments focusing on AI-driven capacity expansion. The firm also closed EQT Infrastructure VI at €21.5 billion ($23.2 billion) in total commitments, with 45 to 50 percent of the fund committed in early 2025. 

EQT will deploy capital from the EQT Infrastructure VI fund in 2026 to invest in digital infrastructure, including EdgeConneX, and AI-related infrastructure. Key investments include data centers, fiber network GlobalConnect, and renewable energy provider Scale Microgrids. The company plans to launch a successor fund in mid-2026 to build on the high-demand digital infrastructure and focus on AI factories. 

In Bloomberg interview, CEO Per Franzén said his company plans to invest more than $250 billion in the United States alone over the next five years, focusing on private capital, infrastructure and real estate.

American Tower Corp.

American Tower deployed approximately $1.7 billion in total capital, $600 million of which was directed toward data center development by its CoreSite subsidiary and increasing demand for AI-related interconnections.

Capital expenditure for 2026 is projected at between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion, $700 million of which will be directed to CoreSite data center investment and the remaining capital to infrastructure related to rising 5G and AI demand.

In a Q4 press release on finanical results, American Tower CEO Steven Vondran noted that leasing demand across the company’s tower portfolio and data center business remains robust, underpinned by sustained growth in mobile ​data consumption, ​continued 5G deployment, ​and increasing hybrid-cloud ‌and AI-related workloads.

Soverign Wealth Funds

Soverign Wealth Funds Investments totaled a record-setting $66 billion in 2025 in AI and digitization investments. This included $270 billion in greenfield investment and $126 billion in total capital by Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, accounting for for 43 percent of SWF investment worldwide.

SWFs are expected to increase their investment in data centers and infrastructure in 2026 to roughly $100 billion.

Pension Funds

Pension funds and other institutional investors also ramped up investments in data centers in 2025, with global investments exceeding $250 billion and contributing to more than $61 billion in recorded mergers and acquisitions and construction deals. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, for instance, partnered with Goodman Group to establish a $14 billion European data center partnership to develop data centers in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris. A Tokyo’s pension fund committed $1.3 billion to Ares Management for the development of three data center campuses in Greater Tokyo. And the $160million Ontario Project invested in a 54 MW expansion of a Canadian data center.

Pension funds are expected to increase investments significantly in 2026, driven by an “infrastructure supercycle” propelled by AI demand, according to a Brookfield Investment Outlook report. One-hundred and forty-four real asset funds focused on data centers are tracking nearly $200 billion in targeted capital since 2020, a trend expected to continue as a key growth driver in 2026. Partnerships are becoming common, such as CPPIB teaming up with Goodman Group to build data centers, with construction starting in mid-2026.