It is known that Microsoft Group is the largest backer of the US AI startup OpenAI, and BlackRock has an executive on OpenAI’s board of directors. But now, Microsoft and BlackRock have joined forces to cooperate with one of OpenAI’s main competitors, Musk’s xAI.

On Wednesday Eastern Time, Microsoft and BlackRock said that Elon Musk's xAI will join their "Global AI Infrastructure Investment" alliance to jointly build data centers and other AI infrastructure worth US$30 billion. Nvidia will also officially join the alliance - Nvidia was named a technical advisor when the alliance was announced last year.

Microsoft has previously invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI, but at the same time, Microsoft is increasingly developing its own artificial intelligence outside of this partnership. Reports revealed earlier this month that Microsoft has created its own in-house artificial intelligence models that it believes can compete with OpenAI.

It is worth mentioning that Musk is also one of the co-founders of OpenAI, but now he and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have become public "rivals" and are engaged in a lawsuit with OpenAI over the company's transition to a for-profit structure.

Microsoft and BlackRock said that after xAI and Nvidia join, their cooperative portfolio will be renamed AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) and focus on infrastructure investment (including energy projects), mainly in the United States, and some funds will be deployed in partner countries.

The alliance consists ofBlackRock and its Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Microsoft andEmirati investment firm MGX, which co-sponsored the project last year, said at the time it would seek to build $30 billion in private equity capital and ultimately leverage up to $100 billion in potential investment.

The plan is expected to attract more investors. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement that clients including pension funds and insurance companies are eager for such long-term infrastructure projects.

The alliance said energy providers NextEra Energy Inc. and GE Vernova Inc. "have agreed to work with AIP to accelerate the expansion of critical and diverse energy solutions for AI data centers." In January, the companies announced a partnership to capitalize on the surge in AI data center spending.

As capital demand and investment enthusiasm for artificial intelligence soar, a series of companies and investors have formed alliances to build large data center campuses. Recently, a number of companies, including SoftBank Group and OpenAI, have reached a $100 billion artificial intelligence investment plan called "Stargate." MGX also participated in the "Stargate Project."

The rush to invest in artificial intelligence is having a huge impact on global electricity demand. It is predicted that by 2034, the energy consumption of data centers is expected to exceed 1,580 terawatt hours, which is equivalent to the current electricity consumption of India as a whole.