Canada’s Brookfield to Promote AI Investments in Japan

Tokyo, June 22 (Jiji Press)–The head of the Japan unit of major Canadian asset management firm Brookfield Corp. has voiced plans to promote investments in artificial intelligence data centers that can process large amounts of data. During a recent interview, Luke Edwards said, “Building out data centers requires detailed knowledge of the sector and the power system, and we have knowledge of both.” He also expressed confidence in building power systems for data centers. Brookfield plans to invest over 10 billion dollars, or some 1.6 trillion yen, in Japan over the next five years. As the first step, it acquired the headquarters building of major Japanese advertising agency Dentsu Inc. in Tokyo’s Shiodome area for some 300 billion yen. While it is unclear how much of the planned investments will be allocated to data centers and other related facilities, Edwards said, “As one of the world’s largest owners and operators of power-related infrastructure, we are unique in the market with the knowledge we possess.” “Going forward, in addition to expanding infrastructure, we would like to work with major Japanese utilities and companies to invest in the replacement and upgrading of aging infrastructure,” he said. Meanwhile, he stopped short of commenting on whether Brookfield had applied for a partnership with Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. In 2018, Brookfield acquired major U.S. nuclear energy firm Westinghouse Electric Co. from Japanese machinery maker Toshiba Corp. Brookfield has around 1.3 trillion dollars in assets under management. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]