Brookfield and Qatar launch $20 billion AI infrastructure three way partnership
By Andres Gonzalez, Manya Saini and Isla Binnie
DUBAI/LONDON/NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Brookfield and Qai, an synthetic intelligence firm owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, have shaped a $20 billion three way partnership to develop synthetic intelligence infrastructure in Qatar and choose worldwide markets, the 2 teams stated on Tuesday.
The three way partnership goals to place Qatar as a number one AI hub within the Center East, they stated, and plans to create an built-in compute centre increasing regional entry to high-performance computing capabilities.
The Gulf nation’s $526 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Funding Authority (QIA), stated on Monday it was establishing its personal nationwide AI firm, Qai, following within the steps of regional friends the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as they make investments to grow to be international AI hubs exterior of the U.S. and China.
AI is reshaping international tech and attracting large investments in each software program and bodily infrastructure, particularly within the knowledge centres wanted to course of the knowledge. A McKinsey report from April estimated {that a} $5.2 trillion funding in knowledge centres shall be wanted by 2030 to satisfy the worldwide demand for AI.
Brookfield will put money into the three way partnership with Qai by way of its just lately launched Synthetic Intelligence Infrastructure Fund, which goals to speculate as much as $100 billion globally.
In a separate interview not associated to the bulletins, QIA’s head of funds Mohsin Pirzada instructed Reuters: “We have been investing in knowledge centres since earlier than it was in vogue.”
He stated Qatar, as one of many world’s largest pure gasoline producers, benefited from elevated demand for energy to feed knowledge centres. The sovereign fund has additionally invested in fast-growing corporations within the sector together with AI-driven analytics platform Databricks.
QIA’s Pirzada, requested whether or not he had any considerations about rising valuations for corporations within the sector, stated there could also be a “shakeout”, however that, in an echo of the Nineties dotcom bubble, it will go away a handful of market leaders and “a large alternative” for buyers.
“We proceed to speculate into the applied sciences and the rail guards that may assist this innovation, the bricks and mortar,” Pirzada stated.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru, Federico Maccioni in Dubai, Andres Gonzalez in London and Isla Binnie in New York, Enhancing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Anousha Sakoui and Alison Williams)
