Brookfield, a private equity firm, is launching its own cloud business, in an unexpected move. It says it can cut AI development costs through its own cloud service.

The Information reported on Dec. 31 that Brookfield appears to be aiming to become the first major investment firm to go beyond owning or developing data centres by leasing chips inside data centres to developers.

The cloud business is tied to a new $10 billion AI fund Brookfield is launching and to Radiant, a cloud company Brookfield will run. Brookfield previously announced a plan in November last year to invest up to $100 billion to acquire land, data centres and power assets needed for AI.

Brookfield is focusing on targeting governments and companies that want to store data in local environments.

A fund set up by Brookfield is developing data centre projects in France, Qatar and Sweden. The Information, citing a source familiar with the company’s strategy, said Brookfield decided to give Radiant a right of first refusal to lease developed data centres.

The Information added that Brookfield will also lease data centre space to external cloud providers.

By expanding its cloud business, Brookfield will also compete with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and other companies that lead the cloud market.

Brookfield already holds large-scale land, data centre and power resources, and is also a major owner of Westinghouse, which develops nuclear reactors. The Information reported that Brookfield is seeking to convert these capabilities into computing supply needed for AI.