US alternatives giants including Blackstone, Apollo and KKR are partnering with Nvidia to source over $500bn (£370.5bn) of financing for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The partnerships with some of the biggest private markets firms, which also include BlackRock, Brookfield and Goldman Sachs, will establish “dedicated pools of capital at significant scale at attractive rates for Nvidia customers”, according to the leading AI chipmaker.

The independent financing platforms established with the managers will fund AI compute and infrastructure across Nvidia’s ecosystem, including AI labs, enterprises and AI cloud providers, with Nvidia describing compute as an investable asset.

Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive of Nvidia, said the partnerships would see the firm “bringing the world’s leading long-term capital providers together to independently underwrite AI infrastructure”.

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Nvidia’s move to work with some of the largest private markets firms to provide financing for its customers comes as the scale of investment needed to build out AI infrastructure increasingly draws external capital.

Hyperscalers and AI companies have traditionally funded much of their AI capex from their own cash flows, but are increasingly turning to debt and other forms of external financing to fund the buildout, with recent research by Alternative Credit Investor examining the trend.

Data centre capex alone, excluding power, is expected to exceed $3.2tn through to 2028, according to Morgan Stanley research published in May. Of this, approximately $1.75tn is expected to be financed through credit products, with private credit accounting for around $700bn.

“Modern compute has emerged as a scarce, mission-critical asset class with compelling investment characteristics that is positioned to drive significant long-term economic growth and productivity gains,” said Apollo president Jim Zelter on its partnership with Nvidia.

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