Global 'Big Player,' U.S. Blue Owl: "Digital Infrastructure Market to Grow to $1 Trillion"

[Financial News] "The digital infrastructure market will grow to more than $1 trillion."
Matt A'Hearn, head of digital infrastructure at Blue Owl Capital, a major player in the global alternative-investment industry (Photo) said at the 32nd New York Financial Professionals Forum held at the Consulate General of Korea in New York on the 17th (local time), "A once-in-a-generation investment opportunity is opening up in the digital infrastructure market," making the forecast. Blue Owl Capital is one of the world's leading alternative asset managers.
According to KIC, Matt A'Hearn, head of digital infrastructure, said in a presentation titled "The Global Data Center Market: Current Status and Outlook," "The second growth wave, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), is being added to the first wave of rapid cloud-market growth," and added, "Given recent investment trends in data centers and related assets, the digital infrastructure market will grow to more than $1 trillion." Digital infrastructure refers to industrial infrastructure for AI and data transmission. It includes data centers, telecommunications towers and cable networks, as well as power and cooling facilities.
The major technology companies currently leading the AI market have been working to secure AI data centers through long-term lease agreements and other arrangements, while increasing investment in internal infrastructure such as servers and network equipment. From 2023 through June this year, the combined AI investment, or capital expenditures (CAPEX), of the four major U.S. Big Tech companies—Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta—was calculated at $1.1 trillion. Blue Owl Capital is also a major player in data center investments, having acquired IPI Partners, a data center-focused investment manager, in January last year. Before joining Blue Owl, A'Hearn was a co-founder and managing partner of IPI Partners, the predecessor to Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure.
He explained, "Securing power is currently the biggest constraint on data center supply expansion in countries around the world," adding, "The key to data center investment is when and how reliably the necessary power can be secured." Operating AI data centers requires enormous amounts of power. AI data centers are known to consume at least five times—and in some cases more than 10 times—as much power as conventional data centers.

[email protected] Reporter Jo Eun-hyo[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter