Foxconn builds world's largest factory for Nvidia AI accelerator GB200 in Mexico

Foxconn has announced the world's largest production facility for Nvidia's GB200 chips. The silicon chips for the "Blackwell" accelerator architecture for artificial intelligence manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan will apparently be further processed and made usable in the factory in Mexico. The world's largest manufacturer of electronic products, such as the iPhone, wants to continue to benefit from the AI boom. The Group already achieved record sales in the last quarter due to the high demand for AI servers.

Nvidia's next generation of AI accelerators was unveiled in March this year under the name Blackwell, whereby a Blackwell "GPU" consists of two individual chips. The latter are produced in a process called "4NP" at TSMC, but the silicon still has to be packaged before it can be used on motherboards and in systems. Foxconn is likely to carry out these processing steps with the GB200 in Mexico, although the manufacturer, known as "Hon Hai" in Taiwan, has not yet provided any details.

During yesterday's "Hon Hai Tech Day" in Taiwan, Benjamin Ting, Vice President of Foxconn's Cloud Enterprise Solutions, merely said according to Reuters: "We're building the largest GB200 production facility on the planet." His boss, Foxconn's chairman Young Liu, added that the capacity will be "very, very large", but did not elaborate. The partnership with Nvidia is essential for Foxconn and everyone is asking for the Blackwell platform. "The demand is awfully huge", said Ting.

Nvidia Omniverse and Mexico site

According to Taiwanese media, Ting also said that Foxconn would use Nvidia's Omniverse to create and simulate AI modules. Available since the end of 2021, the Omniverse cloud collaboration software is a platform where creatives, developers and researchers can work seamlessly on and with different software packages. The Nvidia cloud also provides the graphics, including ray tracing effects.

Foxconn already has a factory in Chihuahua, Mexico, where it has invested over 500 million US dollars to date. The new facility offers "advanced liquid cooling and heat dissipation technologies necessary to complement the GB200 server's infrastructure", said Foxconn boss Liu.

AI profits and electric car strategy

The increased demand for AI products has already had a positive impact on Foxconn's sales in the months of July to September 2024. In the third quarter, the Taiwanese company generated the equivalent of 52.4 billion euros, which is 20.2% more than in the same period last year. In addition to new smart home products, the strong demand for AI cloud solutions is also responsible for the increase, according to Foxconn, write Taiwanese media.

In addition to electronics products, Foxconn is also continuing to diversify into electric cars and has announced new models. Foxconn plans to deliver more than 10,000 e-SUVs in 2024. When asked about the strong competition and the falling demand for electric cars, Liu emphasized that the Group is sticking to this strategy. "It is the right direction and we will continue to work hard towards that", said the Foxconn boss.

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