Brookfield’s $10 Trillion AI Land Grab: The Data Center Real Estate Boom Is Just Getting Started

Brookfield’s appearance at the Goldman Sachs Financial Conference put a spotlight on what may already be the most consequential real estate transformation of the decade: the global data-center and AI infrastructure buildout. Speaking at the event, Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, framed artificial intelligence infrastructure not as a cyclical investment theme, but as a “multi-trillion-dollar capital formation cycle” that will reshape real estate, power, and infrastructure markets for at least the next 15 years. For Brookfield, that shift is already moving capital, land use, and development strategy away from traditional industrial logistics and directly into data centers.

Flatt made clear that the single most critical bottleneck for AI is not chips or software—it is power. He described electricity capacity as “the biggest gaping hole” in the entire AI ecosystem, particularly in the United States. Brookfield’s long history as one of the world’s largest builders and operators of power assets places it in a structurally advantaged position as hyperscalers race to warehouse computing capacity. This power constraint is directly reshaping real estate deployment, because no viable data-center strategy can exist without guaranteed energy access. As a result, Brookfield is now evaluating industrial properties across its global portfolio based on whether they can be converted into power-backed data-center sites.

Flatt described the AI buildout as analogous to the great infrastructure waves of prior eras—railroads, highways, water systems, fiber networks—but emphasized that the digital intelligence layer now being constructed is even more capital-intensive. Countries and hyperscalers alike are racing to build sovereign and enterprise compute backbones, and Brookfield is positioning itself as the operating bridge between institutional capital and physical infrastructure. The firm is already executing transactions with Microsoft, Google, and multiple governments including Sweden, France, and Qatar, underscoring that the AI real estate cycle is already global and sovereign-driven.

Critically, Flatt explained that Brookfield deliberately created a standalone AI infrastructure fund rather than allowing data centers to dominate its traditional infrastructure and real estate vehicles. That decision signals just how large and distinct this opportunity is becoming. AI is now influencing multiple Brookfield verticals simultaneously: power generation, core infrastructure, industrial real estate, and logistics-backed land conversion. Industrial assets that once served warehouse and distribution functions are increasingly being “reverted” into data-center footprints where power, zoning, and network access align.

On the issue of overheating risk within AI real estate, Flatt took a notably disciplined stance. He rejected the idea that Brookfield is speculating on technology outcomes and instead framed the opportunity as conventional real estate underwriting at industrial scale. Brookfield builds facilities, rents them under long-duration contracts, manages construction risk, finances assets conservatively, and locks in counterparty credit quality—just as it has across renewables, ports, pipelines, and office real estate for decades. The risks, in his view, are familiar: construction execution, financing structure, and contract design. The difference today is that the counterparties—hyperscalers and governments—represent stronger long-term credit than many historical industrial tenants.

Flatt also pushed back against the notion that capital scarcity is a constraint on data-center development. He argued that the global financial system holds over $100 trillion in sovereign, institutional, and retail capital, while estimated infrastructure needs for AI may approach $10 trillion. The problem is not capital availability—it is the lack of experienced owner-operators with the trust of hyperscalers and governments to responsibly deploy it. Brookfield’s strategy is to serve as that conversion engine, channeling long-term capital into real estate, power, and compute infrastructure that hyperscalers cannot finance entirely on their own balance sheets.

Within Brookfield’s broader real estate platform, Flatt struck a noticeably optimistic tone on fundamentals. He characterized the recent real estate downturn as driven by capital-market dislocation rather than weak property-level performance. Office demand, long viewed as structurally impaired post-COVID, was cited as actively recovering in Brookfield’s portfolio. Flatt noted that five office buildings built or renovated during the pandemic—across New York, London, and Dubai—are now fully leased at rents 50% higher than pre-COVID levels. In his view, real estate fundamentals never truly collapsed; what failed temporarily was financing availability following the sharp rise in interest rates.

That financing freeze, he argued, is now thawing. As interest rates stabilize and decline, transaction volumes are returning, asset liquidity is improving, and capital structures are normalizing. Brookfield’s real estate fundraising reflects this recovery, with its latest flagship real estate fund closing around $17.5 billion. Flatt emphasized that capital is readily available for sponsors with scale, operating expertise, and long-term performance records—particularly in sectors like data centers, logistics, multifamily, and specialized operating real estate.

What distinguishes the current cycle from prior recoveries is the speed with which AI is reshaping real estate demand. Traditional industrial logistics remains important, but data centers now represent one of the highest-growth property types in the world. These assets require massive power density, fiber connectivity, and long-term tenant commitments—factors that favor large global operators capable of executing across multiple regulatory, utility, and capital market systems.

For Brookfield, the data-center and AI infrastructure expansion is not a thematic allocation—it is rapidly becoming a structural pillar of its real estate strategy. With hyperscalers spending an estimated $500–$600 billion annually on infrastructure over the next several years, Flatt made clear that this buildout will persist regardless of short-term stock-market volatility. In his words, this is the “backbone of intelligence” being laid for the next generation of economic growth—and Brookfield intends to be one of the primary builders behind the scenes.