* Deal is first for AI Infrastructure Partnership formed last year * Aligned operates about 80 data centers with 5 GW of current and planned capacity * AI firms are racing to lock in computing power; OpenAI has signed deals for 26 GW * Global AI infrastructure spending projected to hit $400 billion this year, Morgan Stanley estimates (Adds investor comment in paragraph 16, background on Aligned Data Centers in paragraph 12) By Arsheeya Bajwa and Aditya Soni Oct 15 (Reuters) – An investor group including BlackRock, Microsoft and Nvidia is buying one of the world's biggest data center operators with nearly 80 facilities in a deal worth $40 billion to secure coveted computing capacity for artificial intelligence. The purchase of U.S.-based Aligned Data Centers from Australian Macquarie Asset

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