Ares is making a serious move in the AI infrastructure space. The firm just committed $700 million toward constructing a massive data-center complex and acquiring fully-leased properties in Virginia. This deployment signals how aggressive institutional capital is getting around AI compute resources—a landscape that directly impacts blockchain validation, on-chain computation, and Web3 infrastructure development. When major players like this start betting big on data center expansion, it usually signals confidence in sustained demand for processing power across industries, including decentralized networks.