KKR and Energy Capital Partners form US$50 billion AI partnership

KKR and Energy Capital Partners agreed to a US$50 billion partnership to accelerate the development of infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

The agreement between the alternative investment manager and the private owner of power generation and renewables would focus on developing data centres and power generation and transmission infrastructure, the firms said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 30). They see a US$1 trillion need for AI and cloud infrastructure by 2030.

“The scaling of this mission-critical infrastructure must be done affordably, reliably, and sustainably, while addressing the needs of all stakeholders – from technology companies to end consumers,” Joe Bae, KKR co-chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Infrastructure is a booming area of business for the largest alternative asset managers. KKR’s infrastructure business has grown to US$77 billion of assets under management from US$13 billion five years ago, chief financial officer Robert Lewin said on Thursday on the firm’s third-quarter earnings call. BLOOMBERG