Macquarie To Invest Up To $5 Billion In Applied Digital AI Data Centers

Macquarie will invest up to $5 billion in data centers being built by artificial-intelligence infrastructure company Applied Digital, adding to the Australian bank’s substantial AI-related investments.Macquarie’s asset-management arm agreed to invest up to $900 million in a data-center campus that Applied Digital is developing in North Dakota. Macquarie also has a right of first refusal to invest an additional $4.1 billion in future Applied Digital data centers for 30 months, aligning with the company’s expansion plans. The investment will come in the form of preferred equity.As part of the deal, Macquarie will get a 15% stake in Applied Digital’s high-performance computing business, with Applied Digital retaining the remaining 85%.Applied Digital’s origins were in cryptocurrency mining and, like others in that field, it has pivoted to supplying computing power to the artificial-intelligence boom. The company started as Applied Blockchain before changing its name in 2022. Nadsaq-listed company stock has risen more than 40% in the past year amid the AI surge. Get full access to Neural News Network at remunerationlabs.substack.com/subscribe