Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman warns of excessive exuberance in AI

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, is doing something that looks contradictory on the surface but is actually the most Blackstone thing imaginable: investing aggressively in AI while warning the rest of the market not to get too excited about it. The firm, which manages approximately $1.35 trillion in assets, has positioned itself as one of the largest private investors in AI infrastructure globally. And yet Schwarzman says he remains “mindful” of “excessive exuberance” in the space. The picks and shovels playbook Blackstone’s AI strategy isn’t about building chatbots or training foundation models. It’s about owning the physical infrastructure that makes all of that possible, the data centers, the power supplies, the fiber and cooling systems that AI companies need regardless of which model wins the race. The firm’s portfolio company QTS tells the story pretty clearly. Since Blackstone first invested five years ago, QTS has increased its leased data center capacity by 15 times. The firm has formed a $35 billion AI infrastructure financing platform with Broadcom and is coordinating a $5 billion AI cloud venture with Google. It’s also preparing to launch the Blackstone Digital In...