"Stargate Project": Foxconn and Softbank build AI server together
In a former electric car factory in the US state of Ohio, Foxconn and Softbank will in future jointly manufacture data center equipment for the Stargate project.
(Image: Images By Kenny/Shutterstock.com)
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, together with the Japanese Softbank Group, will manufacture data center equipment in a former electric vehicle factory in the US state of Ohio. According to the US news agency Bloomberg, the US factory acquired by Sotfbank will become the first production site of the multi-billion dollar joint venture “Stargate Project.” As part of this project, ChatGPT developer OpenAI and partners such as Oracle and Softbank plan to invest USD 500 billion in new data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming years.
Bloomberg had already reported at the beginning of August that Softbank had purchased the car plant in Lordstown, Ohio, from Foxconn. Foxconn CEO Young Liu has now announced that his company will continue to operate the plant as a production facility for AI servers in the future. Softbank will supply the factory with production equipment for the joint venture.
According to Liu, Softbank and Foxconn began preparations for the joint project more than half a year ago. “We are aware that energy, location, and timing are the top priorities for this project—it cannot be delayed for too long. Taking all these factors into account, we believe that Ohio is a very suitable location, and Softbank shares this view,” he is quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
Stargate project with start-up difficulties
When the Stargate project was unveiled in January, US President Donald Trump announced an initial investment of 100 billion US dollars and the creation of 100,000 new jobs in the US. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, on the other hand, raised doubts about the huge AI project. He claimed that the project, in which companies want to invest 500 billion US dollars in AI infrastructure, is underfunded.
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In fact, the project is off to a slow start. For over half a year, there was hardly any significant progress. According to Bloomberg, the reasons for this are likely to be economic uncertainties due to Trump's customs policy and the emergence of cheaper AI alternatives such as DeepSeek, which have made project financing more difficult. There have also recently been reports that Oracle and OpenAI are building huge supercomputers to train AI algorithms—without Softbank.
(akn)
