SoftBank plans to build AI servers in the Ohio plant as part of the Stargate plan

SoftBank Group has reportedly purchased Foxconn Technology Group’s Ohio plant to advance the Stargate AI data center project in collaboration with OpenAI and Oracle. The purchase was made at $375 million following the recent struggle experienced by SoftBank to raise funds for the support of the $500 billion Stargate plan. 

The nature of the sale has been private between the two companies, with sources declining to be identified. The acquisition aims to bring Foxconn into SoftBank’s plan to build AI data centers across the United States. The Stargate plan is expected to deliver more than 100,000 jobs across the U.S. The Stargate plan had been stalled for six months since its announcement in January by U.S President Trump. 

SoftBank plans to build AI servers in the Ohio plant as part of the Stargate plan

The Stargate initiative was announced in January by U.S President Donald Trump as a private-sector investment. The plan could cost approximately $500 billion to build AI data centers across the U.S. in partnership with Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI. 

Softbank is reportedly the buyer of Foxconn EV plant in Ohio, potentially to be used as part of Stargate Project.

SoftBank is scouting a number of potential sites to serve as a flagship for Stargate, weighing their access to water, power and telecom networks. But it’s… pic.twitter.com/eD0Jpj3pl3

— Ray Wang (@rwang07) August 8, 2025

Foxconn will operate the Ohio facility for its own AI server manufacturing. The Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. was the first investor in SoftBank’s plan and a notable supplier to Apple Inc. Bloomberg reported that the Ohio site may also be used to build AI data centers and manufacture AI servers. Hon Hai declined to give details of the transaction with SoftBank, citing the private nature of the acquisition. Reuters also revealed that it could not verify the Bloomberg report on the deal.

The announcement came amid SoftBank and Foxconn’s separate deals on a $1.47 billion joint venture to establish a data center and manufacturing plant in the U.S. The two companies have contributed $735 million towards the deal so far. It’s, however, unclear if the $375 million Ohio plant acquisition forms part of the joint venture deal. 

Ohio plant acquisition may reignite Trump-backed AI data centers initiative

Masayoshi Son leads SoftBank’s ambition to be a leader in AI-chip manufacturing. Since January, the company has faced drawbacks in raising funds for the Stargate deal. It also faced challenges evaluating potential sites for the flagship project, weighing in factors such as access to water, electricity, and networks. According to Yoshimitsu Goto, CFO at SoftBank, a lack of consensus between the partners is what has stalled the rollout of the project. 

China’s DeepSeek offered cheaper alternatives for AI models, which put the Stargate project at risk, among other factors such as U.S. tariffs. SoftBank found it harder to create a favourable pricing model for its products that could help secure finance for the $500 billion project. 

OpenAI and Oracle have already moved forward with the ChatGPT developer launching Stargate-branded data centers independently in Albene, Texas. The Albene site was launched before Trump’s January announcement. OpenAI is also a notable customer of the Stargate facility in Norway, and it plans to build a 5-Gigawatt Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the MGX investment fund. 

According to Cramer, host of Mad Money on CNBC, the purchase of the Ohio EV plant signals a potential plan to reignite the stalled Stargate plan, which has suffered financial hurdles. It is still unclear whether the acquisition will accelerate the progress towards the $500 billion plan, depending on how quickly SoftBank can finalize its site selection and secure more partnerships. The Ohio plant will reportedly host manufacturing for AI servers and become the center of Stargate’s U.S rollouts.

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