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SoftBank Acquires Foxconn’s Ohio EV Plant to Power Stargate AI Data Center Network

The purchase addresses financing hurdles for the Stargate initiative by tapping Foxconn’s manufacturing prowess

TOKYO, JAPAN - MAY 09: SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during a press conference on May 9, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. The company announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2018 today. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • SoftBank finalized its purchase of Foxconn’s Ohio electric vehicle facility and will convert it into one of the first nodes in its $500 billion Stargate data center project
  • The acquisition comes as SoftBank faced cost overruns and funding delays that threatened to stall its nationwide AI infrastructure rollout
  • Stargate, backed by SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, is projected to create more than 100,000 U.S. jobs and has already broken ground on a campus in Abilene, Texas
  • Repurposing the Ohio plant exemplifies a broader strategy to adapt existing industrial sites for high-performance computing rather than building new centers from scratch
  • By leveraging Foxconn’s production capabilities, SoftBank aims to accelerate data center deployment to enhance America’s AI capacity and competitiveness