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BlackRock signs labor deal for AI data center push

BlackRock, the New York-based asset manager, signed a memorandum with North America’s Building Trades Unions, which represents more than 3 million skilled trade workers, to share details on upcoming data center and energy projects and help secure construction labor.

The pact also supports responsible contractor programs and project labor agreements (PLAs), which set employment terms for specific construction projects and are commonly used on large jobs to coordinate contractors, labor supply, safety, and labor standards.

The agreement adds labor support to BlackRock’s AI Infrastructure Partnership, a platform led by BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, and MGX that targets next-generation AI data centers and energy infrastructure.

The venture initially aims to raise US$30 billion and potentially US$100 billion, including debt financing. Nvidia and xAI joined in March 2025.

BlackRock has also expanded AI infrastructure financing through a roughly US$14 billion Texas data center deal with Meta.

Separately, Global Infrastructure Partners, alongside the AI Infrastructure Partnership and MGX, led the US$40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

Recent BlackRock developments

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