OpenAI announced on Tuesday that Adebayo Ogunlesi, a prominent private equity veteran and current CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), has joined its board of directors. Ogunlesi, 71, will advise the AI company on securing the infrastructure necessary to further advance its artificial intelligence development.
GIP, a private equity firm founded in 2006, specializes in infrastructure investments, managing more than $100 billion in assets. The firm’s portfolio includes high-profile assets such as Gatwick Airport, the Port of Melbourne, and significant offshore wind projects. Last year, BlackRock acquired GIP for $12.5 billion.
AI infrastructure has become a crucial element in the race for AI dominance, with the success of AI technologies heavily reliant on the ability to build and maintain vast compute infrastructures. This typically involves specialized data centers that link thousands of chips in clusters to process data at scale. According to projections, tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple will spend over $200 billion on capital expenditures related to AI infrastructure in 2025, nearly double the amount spent in 2021.
OpenAI has also been advocating for U.S. government policies that would support the country’s AI initiatives, aiming to ensure that investments in AI remain within the U.S. to prevent China-backed projects from gaining an upper hand in global influence. OpenAI’s recent policy proposals highlight the estimated $175 billion waiting to be invested in AI projects, warning that failure to attract these funds could result in them flowing to China.
