Blackstone and ESR race to develop AI data centers in Japan

TOKYO -- Global real estate investors are rushing to develop data centers in Japan, as they bet on massive demand for computing power from businesses turning to artificial intelligence to cope with labor shortages.

Blackstone, the world's largest data center owner, is moving to significantly raise the share of data centers in its Japan real estate portfolio to a level more in line with its activity in the rest of the world, said Daisuke Kitta, head of the company's real estate investment in the country. "We aim to be a dominant provider of data center facilities in Japan."