Foxconn on Monday confirmed that it sold its production facility in Lordstown, Ohio, earlier this month to SoftBank, reports Nikkei. Under the terms of the deal, Foxconn will continue to operate the plant, which will be retrofitted to build AI servers and other gear to equip Stargate AI data centers.
The Lordstown, Ohio, site was originally acquired by Foxconn from Lordstown Motors in 2022 and used for electric vehicle production. The complex spans 6.2 million square feet and is six times larger than Foxconn's Houston facility, which is also being expanded to build AI servers. The plant has production facilities (albeit these will have to be changed to build AI servers) and loads of power capacity, which will be required for large-scale manufacturing operations. Foxconn got $375 million for the plant and the land, according to Reuters.
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu explained that the arrangement with SoftBank has been in preparation for over six months. The decision was driven by available power capacity, large land area for further expansion, and urgency to move quickly on the Stargate schedule, which aims to build $500 billion AI infrastructure over the next several years.
Foxconn is already the world’s largest supplier of AI servers and is increasing its capacity in multiple regions. In the United States, it is building up operations in Houston, Texas, where it plans to produce AI machines and other data center gear in partnership with Nvidia. The company is also maintaining activities in California and Mexico, serving dozens of clients. The new Ohio base will become another important production center in its network.
The Ohio complex could become the first manufacturing base linked directly to Stargate and exclusively producing infrastructure components used by SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI, which almost guarantees a steady flow of orders. SoftBank is currently evaluating multiple locations for data centers, considering factors such as energy supply, water resources, and telecommunications infrastructure, reports Bloomberg. As soon as SoftBank finds places for its AI data centers, it will be able to equip them with machines produced at the Lordstown, Ohio, facility.
The Stargate project was introduced in January by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump. Back then, Masayoshi Son, the head of SoftBank, pledged to allocate $100 billion immediately toward data centers, energy facilities, and related projects. However, progress has slowed due to various factors, including U.S. tariff policy and obstacles to building viable financing models, according to Bloomberg. SoftBank denies that access to funding is a problem.
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