Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) and Brookfield have announced a landmark $5 billion strategic partnership to build AI-powered data centers, dubbed “AI factories,” designed to meet the surging energy and computing demands of artificial intelligence. The collaboration marks a pivotal step in reimagining how AI infrastructure is developed, integrating compute, power, data center design, and capital investment into a unified, scalable system. The deal signals a growing industry shift toward decentralized, on-site power solutions to overcome limitations of the aging U.S. electric grid. Bloom Energy’s fuel cell technology will serve as the backbone of these AI factories, providing reliable, clean, and rapidly deployable power without relying on the traditional electrical grid. These “behind-the-meter” power systems can be installed quickly and efficiently, addressing the critical bottleneck in expanding data center capacity. The technology is already in use across the U.S., with hundreds of megawatts deployed through partnerships with major utilities like American Electric Power and data center developers such as Equinix and Oracle. The partnership is the first phase of a broader global strategy to construct AI factories, with a site in Europe set to be unveiled before the end of the year. These facilities are designed to deliver the massive, consistent power required by AI workloads—such as training large language models—which can consume as much electricity as entire cities. For context, Nvidia and OpenAI recently announced plans to build 10 gigawatts of data center capacity, equivalent to peak summer power use in New York City. However, the existing U.S. power grid struggles to keep pace with this demand. Grid upgrades are often slow, costly, and subject to regulatory delays, making them impractical for the rapid deployment needed by AI companies. As a result, industry leaders are turning to self-powered data centers. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized this point in a recent CNBC interview, stating that self-generated power is essential for meeting AI’s growth while protecting consumers from rising electricity prices. Brookfield’s global head of AI infrastructure, Sikander Rashid, underscored the importance of building AI infrastructure like a factory—engineered for speed, scale, and purpose. Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar echoed this vision, saying the partnership will enable the rapid deployment of integrated power and computing systems that can scale with AI’s explosive growth. The announcement sent Bloom Energy’s stock soaring more than 30% in early trading, reflecting strong investor confidence in the company’s role in the AI energy revolution. The $5 billion investment from Brookfield will fund the design, construction, and operation of AI factories worldwide, positioning Bloom Energy at the forefront of the clean energy transition for data-intensive industries. This partnership comes amid a broader industry trend where AI companies are increasingly focused on securing reliable, sustainable, and fast-to-deploy power sources. As AI transforms sectors from healthcare to finance, the demand for compute power will only grow, making infrastructure innovation critical. By combining Bloom’s clean, on-site power with Brookfield’s global project development expertise, the alliance aims to create a new standard for AI infrastructure—one that is resilient, scalable, and environmentally responsible. The success of this initiative could influence how other tech firms and investors approach the energy challenges of the AI era, potentially reshaping the future of data center development and power delivery.