As AI companies race to build powerful models, another competition is unfolding behind the scenes—not over software, but over the infrastructure required to power it.
That shift was on display this week when Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL) launched a new U.S. digital infrastructure venture designed to capitalize on surging data center demand. The move reflects a broader bet across private markets that the biggest winners of the AI boom may not be the companies building the next-frontier model, but the investors who own the infrastructure that every AI developer depends on.
In an interview with CNBC, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that the rising cost of AI infrastructure remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
“It’s definitely a headwind. There’s no way around that,” Altman said when asked about increasing compute and memory costs. “It means we have to be even smarter and deliver more algorithmic gains to combat the upward infrastructure costs and still have a declining price to the customer.”
Altman reiterated that AI spending has become “a very big topic” for enterprise customers, adding that “everyone’s asking what we can do to help reduce spend or increase value.” As companies scrutinize the economics of AI deployments, investors are increasingly betting that efficient, large-scale infrastructure will become a competitive advantage.
Asset Managers Pour Billions Into AI Infrastructure.
In 2024, Blackstone (NYSE:BX) agreed to acquire Asia-Pacific data center operator AirTrunk in a deal valued at more than $16 billion (A$24 billion)—the largest data center transaction on record.
Meanwhile, Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) has positioned itself as one of the most aggressive infrastructure investors in the AI race, launching a $10 billion AI Infrastructure Fund in 2025 that aims to deploy up to $100 billion across data centers, power generation, compute infrastructure and related assets.
Last month, KKR & Co. (NYSE:KKR) launched Helix Digital Infrastructure, a platform backed by more than $10 billion in capital commitments to develop AI data centers, power generation and connectivity infrastructure. The investments reflect a growing conviction across private markets that data centers are evolving into a core infrastructure asset alongside utilities, transportation and energy networks.
The AI infrastructure buildout, however, is not without challenges. As AI workloads become more demanding, access to reliable power and large-scale data center capacity could become a competitive advantage—not just for technology companies, but for the investors financing the next generation of digital infrastructure.
The shift represents a broader change in how capital markets are approaching AI. The first phase of the boom was defined by investments in models, applications and AI startups competing to develop the next breakthrough technology.
The next phase may be defined by who controls the physical foundation beneath it.
For firms like Blue Owl, Blackstone, KKR and Brookfield, the AI opportunity is less about predicting which model ultimately wins the race. It is about owning the infrastructure that every winner will need to scale.
Photo: Shutterstock
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