AI Computing Power Investment Further Increased, Blackstone Reportedly Plans to Significantly Raise Google TPU Purchases

The world’s largest alternative asset manager, Blackstone, is further betting on Google’s AI chips.

According to technology media outlet The Information, Blackstone is expected to purchase a number of Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) far exceeding the scale disclosed when it announced the establishment of a joint venture with Google in May this year. A source familiar with the matter said Blackstone aims to buy several times more units than originally planned. Blackstone declined to comment on the exact number of units to be purchased.

This move suggests that Blackstone’s investment in AI computing infrastructure may be expanding further. As one of the world’s leading data center investors, Blackstone currently manages over $1.3 trillion in assets; its investments in data centers, energy, and other infrastructure sectors have become a key component of its wager on AI infrastructure demand.

Joint Venture with Google in May; Initial Investment of $5 Billion

In May this year, Blackstone announced the establishment of a joint venture in the United States with Google to provide data center capacity, operations, networking, and Google Cloud TPUs, offering TPU computing power to clients under the “compute-as-a-service” model.

According to Blackstone’s announcement at the time, the company would make an initial equity investment of $5 billion, targeting 500 MW of data center capacity to go online by 2027, with plans for substantial expansion in the future.

Reuters reported at the time that, with leverage financing included, the project’s overall investment could reach $25 billion. Google, by providing its self-developed TPUs, aims to further expand the reach of its AI chips to clients beyond Google Cloud.

Google Accelerates TPU Commercialization

As Blackstone increases its procurement, Google is also continually reinforcing the position of its TPUs as an AI computing alternative to NVIDIA GPUs.

The head of Google Cloud recently stated that the scale of Google’s AI accelerator chip business has surpassed that of its nearest cloud computing competitor by a factor of two. This year, Google began including third-party TPU sales into its cloud business revenue, and has ramped up TPU commercialization through leasing, direct sales, and ventures such as the joint company with Blackstone.

For Blackstone, if the final purchase volume is indeed several times larger than previously planned, as reported, this not only implies a possible further expansion of its TPU cloud joint project with Google, but also reflects a trend where major capital institutions are doubling down on AI infrastructure demand through a “chip + data center + compute service” model.