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Nvidia, KKR to back $500 billion AI data center financing push
The group plans to draw outside investors, using deal structures that Nvidia previously positioned as credit-support for power-hungry AI projects.
Nvidia and KKR are helping lead a proposed AI financing effort that calls for raising at least $500 billion, potentially more, from outside investors to build new AI data centers, according to Yahoo Finance. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang introduced the idea on CNBC alongside leaders from Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, and Brookfield.
KRK’s head of digital infrastructure, Waldemar Szlezak, characterized the approach as creating a new revenue stream linked to the financing. Nvidia has also described a prior attempt at a similar model, including a plan about 11 months ago to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI for data centers requiring 10 gigawatts of power, which Yahoo Finance says did not fully materialize.
The article says Nvidia’s role includes options to backstop 25% of loans made under the plan, which is intended to improve borrower terms. It also notes that the industry is already financing AI infrastructure at scale, with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle raising more than $150 billion in debt and equity this year.
Still, the report flags risks that go to the assumptions behind collateral values. It cites a short-seller argument by Michael Burry that companies may overstate how long AI chips remain useful, and it adds that China’s ramp-up in domestic chip production could add pressure by flooding the market with cheaper silicon, potentially eroding collateral backing for large loans.