COMPANIES · FINANCIAL & INVESTMENT

BlackRock

The world's largest asset manager, which has moved directly into financing AI's physical build-out -- co-founding a dedicated AI Infrastructure Partnership and investing in AI labs through its funds.

InfrastructureFinancial & investment
What it does

The world's largest asset manager, which has moved directly into financing AI's physical build-out -- co-founding a dedicated AI Infrastructure Partnership and investing in AI labs through its funds.

Why it matters

BlackRock's scale lets it mobilize capital most single investors can't: the AI Infrastructure Partnership it co-founded with Microsoft and MGX targets up to $100B in data-center and power investment, and BlackRock-affiliated funds also took part in Anthropic's $30B Series G.

How it makes money

Earns management and performance fees on the trillions of dollars in assets it manages on behalf of clients, including the AI-infrastructure funds it now runs.

Geography

United States (global operations)

AI stack position

Financial and investment. The investors and financial firms whose capital is funding the AI buildout. These companies don't build AI technology themselves — they supply the enormous amounts of money it takes to build everything else on this map.

Same-layer peers

Same-layer peers share an editorial stack classification; that alone does not establish direct competition.

Connections (8)

Every connection below is tied to a readable source, date, classification and statement of its limits. A company source establishes what that company stated; it does not necessarily provide independent confirmation.

Dated or announced (8)

BlackRock invested in Astera Labs
Invested inDated / announced
A Schedule 13G/A filed July 27, 2026 shows BlackRock, Inc. holding a 7.4% passive stake in Astera Labs (12,667,232 shares), with sole voting power over 11,998,990 of those shares.

Source: 2026-07-27 · reviewed 2026-09-22

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Announced

Limits: Explicitly a passive investment disclosure -- the filing states the shares were not acquired to influence control of the company; this is portfolio ownership, not a strategic or commercial partnership.

BlackRock reports 7.4% stake in Astera Labs | ALAB SEC Filing - Schedule 13G/A ↗
BlackRock invested in SambaNova Systems
Invested inDated / announced
General Atlantic's July 8, 2026 announcement of SambaNova's $1 billion Series F first close at an $11 billion valuation lists funds and accounts managed by BlackRock among the participating investors, alongside T. Rowe Price, Capital Group, Intel Capital, Qatar Investment Authority and Vista Equity Partners.

Source: 2026-07-08 · reviewed 2026-09-22

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Announced

Limits: Does not disclose BlackRock's individual investment amount or resulting ownership percentage; described as a 'first close' so the round may not have been final as of this date.

SambaNova Completes First Close of $1 Billion Financing at $11 Billion Valuation ↗
BlackRock invested in via affiliated funds Anthropic
Invested inDated / announced
BlackRock-affiliated funds are named among the investors in Anthropic's $30 billion Series G round (February 2026).

Source: 2026-02-12 · reviewed 2026-09-21

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Completed funding round, February 2026

Limits: Anthropic's announcement attributes this to 'BlackRock-affiliated funds' rather than naming BlackRock Inc. directly; the specific fund vehicle and check size are not disclosed.

Anthropic raises $30B Series G at $380B post-money valuation ↗
BlackRock welcomed as a technology partner to the AI Infrastructure Partnership NVIDIA
Partners withDated / announced
NVIDIA joined the AI Infrastructure Partnership (led by BlackRock, GIP, Microsoft and MGX) as a member and technical advisor in March 2025, not as a capital investor.

Source: 2025-03-19 · reviewed 2026-09-21

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Joined as member/technical advisor, March 2025

Limits: The announcement explicitly frames NVIDIA's role as technology/advisory, not as a capital contributor to the partnership's investment fund.

BlackRock, GIP, Microsoft and MGX Welcome NVIDIA and xAI to AIP ↗
BlackRock welcomed as a partner to the AI Infrastructure Partnership SpaceXAI (formerly xAI)
Partners withDated / announced
xAI joined the AI Infrastructure Partnership (led by BlackRock, GIP, Microsoft and MGX) as a member in March 2025.

Source: 2025-03-19 · reviewed 2026-09-21

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Joined as member, March 2025

Limits: The announcement does not describe xAI as a capital investor in the partnership.

BlackRock, GIP, Microsoft and MGX Welcome NVIDIA and xAI to AIP ↗
BlackRock co-founded the AI Infrastructure Partnership with Microsoft
Partners withDated / announced
BlackRock co-founded the AI Infrastructure Partnership with Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft and MGX, aiming to unlock $30B in private equity capital (up to $100B including debt financing) for AI data centers and power infrastructure.

Source: 2024-09-17 · reviewed 2026-09-21

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Founding partnership announced, September 2024

Limits: Figures are capital-mobilization targets, not amounts already deployed or contracted.

BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, and MGX Launch New AI Partnership ↗
BlackRock co-founded the AI Infrastructure Partnership with MGX
Partners withDated / announced
BlackRock and MGX are co-founding partners, alongside Microsoft and Global Infrastructure Partners, of the AI Infrastructure Partnership.

Source: 2024-09-17 · reviewed 2026-09-21

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Founding partnership announced, September 2024

Limits: Figures are capital-mobilization targets, not amounts already deployed or contracted.

BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, and MGX Launch New AI Partnership ↗
BlackRock invested in Groq
Invested inDated / announced
The same August 5, 2024 release names BlackRock Private Equity Partners as the lead investor in Groq's $640 million Series D round, which valued the company at $2.8 billion.

Source: 2024-08-05 · reviewed 2026-09-22

Evidence: Primary-source statement · Announced

Limits: Does not disclose BlackRock's specific investment amount or resulting ownership stake; BlackRock Private Equity Partners is a private-markets unit of BlackRock, Inc.

Groq Raises $640M to Meet Soaring Demand for Fast AI Inference ↗
Evidence for this profile

BlackRock corporate overview ↗
Reviewed

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Inclusion in this database is not an endorsement of a company or its securities. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and none of it is individualized investment advice. See the disclosures. Data: AI Map v3.22, released .