Foxconn to operate SoftBank's Stargate AI server site in Ohio

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. will operate a U.S. factory owned by SoftBank Group Corp., setting up what's in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company's 500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. SoftBank is acquiring Hon Hai's electric-vehicle plant in Ohio but the Taiwanese company will continue to run the complex after turning it into an AI server production plant, Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu said, confirming a report. SoftBank will supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies will make AI data center-related equipment, Liu said. SoftBank is scouting a number of potential data center sites to serve as a flagship for Stargate, weighing their access to water, power and telecom networks. Hon Hai's participation represents a boon for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's ambition to be at the center of surging investment in artificial intelligence hardware. Hon Hai -- known also as Foxconn -- assembles Apple iPhones and Nvidia servers.