Alphabet and Blackstone's AI cloud project 'Project Braid' data center construction delayed

According to informed sources, Google’s parent company Alphabet (GOOG.US) has encountered delays in the construction of data centers related to the AI cloud project “Project Braid,” which is in partnership with Blackstone Group (BX.US). Blackstone is investing 5 billion USD in this project, which is planned to lease computing resources equipped with Google AI chips to customers by 2027. The sources said that Google had previously planned for AI data center developer Crusoe to be responsible for constructing the data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA. However, this arrangement was later canceled with Google taking over the project and reapplying for the necessary permits. The sources indicated that Google lost confidence in Crusoe’s ability to deliver the project on schedule. Crusoe had previously gained attention for its involvement in OpenAI and Oracle’s flagship “Stargate” data center project in Texas. In addition, another data center location was affected by the lack of required transformers. Currently, AI data center construction is facing bottlenecks including insufficient supply of power equipment and delays in approval. The person in charge of Project Braid indicated that the project is still progressing and is planned to provide 500 megawatts of computing capacity next year.