Apollo (APO.US) leads a $35 billion financing round for Meta (META.US) in data centers.

According to sources familiar with the matter, American private equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.US) is in talks to lead a consortium providing approximately $35 billion in financing for Meta Platforms (META.US) to help it develop data centers in the United States. The sources said Apollo has discussed providing most of the financing. Additionally, the financing negotiations are still in the early stages, and there is no guarantee that the deal will be completed. In January of this year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to invest up to $65 billion in expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure. Zuckerberg stated that these measures include constructing a massive new data center and increasing hiring for AI teams. Meta has stated its goal of achieving 1 gigawatt of online computing capacity by 2025. The company has already announced a $10 billion investment in building a data center in Louisiana, as well as purchasing new computer chips to power some of its products. Zuckerberg also told investors in January that Meta's investment in AI infrastructure will ultimately reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Another tech giant, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US), has stated that it expects to invest $80 billion in data centers this fiscal year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated last month that the company must maintain spending to meet the "exponential growth in demand." It is estimated that building infrastructure to meet the demands of artificial intelligence will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. For much of the past year, bankers and investors have been eager to capitalize on the AI spending boom after seeing the stock market reward companies crucial to the AI ecosystem. Alternative asset management companies have previously collaborated with tech giants, but a potential deal with Meta is particularly noteworthy. The "super unicorn" AI data analytics company Databricks previously secured over $5 billion in financing from lenders such as Blackstone, Apollo, and Blue Owl Capital, marking its largest debt financing to date. Apollo acquired a stake in a joint venture with Intel Corporation (INTC.US) in Ireland last year for $11 billion.