JPMorgan und Mitsubishi verhandeln über 22-Milliarden-Dollar-Kredit für KI-Rechenzentrum

Bankenriesen pumpen Milliarden in die KI-Infrastruktur – während die Regulierungsbehörden noch Kaffee trinken.

Die Finanzierungsschlacht

JPMorgan und Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group stecken mitten in Verhandlungen über einen Kredit in schwindelerregender Höhe: 22 Milliarden Dollar fließen in den Bau eines hyperskalierbaren KI-Rechenzentrums. Das Projekt sprengt bisherige Dimensionen und unterstreicht, wie sehr traditionelle Finanzinstitute auf den KI-Zug aufspringen.

KI-Wettrüsten der Giganten

Die Summe zeigt deutlich: Wall Street und japanische Finanzhäuser wittern das nächste große Ding. Während Tech-Konzerne bereits seit Jahren in Rechenkapazitäten investieren, holen die Banken jetzt massiv auf – mit Budgets, die selbst manche Staatshaushalte blass aussehen lassen.

Regulatorisches Niemandsland

Interessanterweise bewegt sich die Finanzierung in einer Grauzone. Die japanische FSA hat noch keine klaren Richtlinien für KI-Investitionen dieser Größenordnung erlassen. Typisch: Die Technologie rennt, die Bürokratie humpelt hinterher.

Das Ganze hat einen leicht bitteren Beigeschmack – schließlich finanzieren dieselben Banken, die bei Krypto-Investments noch zögerten, jetzt ohne mit der Wimper zu zucken ein 22-Milliarden-Dollar-Vorhaben. Aber hey, Hauptsache die Algorithmen können schneller handeln als jeder Mensch.

Wall Street is rapidly raising funds to power AI models

According to sources familiar with the proceedings, private capital groups Silver Lake and DigitalBridge plan to commit an extra $3 billion in combined equity financing to support the building of the data center campus, and it is expected to be among the world’s largest upon completion.

The campus will house ten data centers, the first of which is expected to be finished mid-2026, while the rest will have been built by the end of 2028.

Vantage came into existence in 2010, thanks to an initial investment from Silver Lake, after which it started operations with a data center it acquired from Intel.

Sureel Choksi, a Silver Lake executive, played a pivotal role in the proceedings and was appointed chief executive of Vantage in 2013.

Under Choksi, Vantage grew rapidly into a global data center juggernaut, initially focused on building data centers to support the cloud computing operations of large tech groups. However, more recently, it has been building properties with more advanced specifications targeting the booming AI market.

Vantage was sold in 2017 to DigitalBridge, a private capital group focused on digital infrastructure technologies, for around $1 billion.

However, in 2024, Silver Lake reinvested in Vantage by co-leading a $9.2 billion financing alongside DigitalBridge.

Big Tech companies are turning to large investment funds to finance new data centers

The financing deal JPMorgan and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are planning to underwrite is being discussed as America’s biggest technology companies turn to large investment funds to provide the funds they need to rapidly develop new data centers to avoid breaking the bank.

Examples of tech companies doing this include xAI, Meta, and Blue Owl. Elon Musk’s xAI has reportedly raised $10 billion of debt and equity since July to support the construction of its data centers in Tennessee, and has reportedly met with private credit lenders to raise even more billions.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has also teamed up with investors to raise $29 billion of debt and equity for its own AI projects. It is reportedly nearing a deal with private investment firm Blue Owl and bond giant Pimco, although it has also had talks with Apollo Global Management and KKR.

Blue Owl has already helped finance a $15 billion project for Oracle and OpenAI in Texas. The State continues to attract data centers due to its relatively low electricity costs.

All this interest in data centers has analysts convinced that demand for them will continue to climb alongside the AI market, which relies heavily on such infrastructure.

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