BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners unit and the AI Infrastructure Partnership signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with North America's Building Trades Unions on August 10, 2026, to address labor shortages in the build-out of AI-related data centers and power facilities. The agreement is meant to link a pipeline of more than 3 million skilled trades workers to projects earlier in the development cycle, while expanding apprenticeship programs, coordinating recruitment and backing project labor agreements (pre-negotiated contracts that set wages, benefits and working conditions). The move fits into BlackRock's broader infrastructure strategy after its $40 billion Aligned Data Centers acquisition earlier in 2026, while the AI Infrastructure Partnership, whose members include Microsoft and Nvidia, has outlined plans to raise $30 billion in equity that could reach $100 billion with debt financing. NABTU's network of more than 1,900 apprenticeship facilities across the US and Canada gives the effort a training base, and the deal complements BlackRock's $100 million Future Builders initiative, which targets training 50,000 Americans for skilled trades.