A major investment firm signaled plans to develop AI-focused data center capacity and launched a dedicated AI infrastructure fund anchored by a leading AI provider.
Property developer Brookfield Asset Management wants to bring AI data centres to Canary Wharf, London’s financial district.
The firm, which invests across real estate, infrastructure, renewables and private markets, owns a multi-gigawatt portfolio of sites globally and co-owns the London office development with the Qatar Investment Authority.
"AI infrastructure is the single largest theme, bar none," Brookfield CEO Connor Teskey told CNBC.
Teskey said the UK sits between the United States and China, lacks a home-grown hyperscaler, and so the build-out of AI infrastructure and the productivity gains it enables in Europe will likely be driven more by governments than by hyperscalers.
Brookfield launched a dedicated AI infrastructure fund anchored by Nvidia in November last year and has signed AI partnerships with the governments of France and Sweden.
Teskey argued that building data centres against long-term contracts with top counterparties mitigates bubble risk and that Brookfield plans facilities in Canary Wharf and elsewhere.
He said rising energy demand, faster digitalization and a rewiring of global supply chains are creating an immense need for capital and, combined with AI-driven productivity, make investment highly attractive.
Teskey added there are pockets of froth in the market, and that the environment calls for greater investment discipline.
