Blackstone today announced a joint venture with Google to create a new U.S.-based company that will offer efficient data center capacity, operations, networking, and Google Cloud's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as a compute-as-a-service offering. The company will give customers another option to access cloud TPUs in addition to using them through Google Cloud. Blackstone is the world's biggest alternative asset manager, with over $1.3 trillion in assets under management, and the largest global provider of data centers.
Blackstone commits initial $5 billion equity commitment for joint venture with Google for TPU cloud.
First 500 MW of capacity expected online in 2027, with plans to scale significantly over time.
Google will supply TPU hardware, software, and services to the new company.
Benjamin Treynor Sloss, Google executive with over 20 years at Google, named CEO.
TPUs power Gemini and AI-driven products for billions of Google users globally.
Blackstone has over $1.3 trillion in assets under management.
Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone, said: “We see a generational opportunity to invest capital at scale building AI infrastructure. This new company has enormous potential as it helps to meet the unprecedented demand for compute. We are incredibly proud to partner with Google – bringing together their world class TPUs and AI capabilities with Blackstone's exceptional strength in energy and digital infrastructure.”
Jas Khaira, Head of Blackstone N1 (BXN1), said: “Capital alone doesn't build category-defining platforms – the right partner, the right structure, and the conviction to underwrite singular opportunities do. Google's TPUs, a decade in the making and foundational to the AI economy, are exactly the kind of platform BXN1 was built to back.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said: “This joint venture with Blackstone helps meet growing demand for TPUs, which are optimized specifically for efficiency and performance in the AI era. Together, we're accelerating AI transformation and providing more options for organizations to access accelerated compute capability.”
Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone's over $1.3 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds.