SoftBank is marching ahead on its ambitions to build out a major AI operation in its home market of Japan, on its own steam and in strategic partnership with others like OpenAI. On Friday, the tech company confirmed it would pay $676 million for factory previously used by Sharp to build LCD panels to convert it into an artificial intelligence data center.
SoftBank’s purchase and sale agreement with Sharp includes both the land and buildings of the Sharp Sakai Plant in Osaka, for a price of 100 billion yen ($676 million).
This was a necessary early step for SoftBank since data centers are a lynchpin in the massive wave of generative AI sweeping the tech world: substantial data center capacity is needed both to train models and to provision and run subsequent services.
When asked if the site is part of its plans to commercialize OpenAI’s models in Japan, a SoftBank spokesperson pointed TechCrunch to its previous announcement regarding a collaboration with OpenAI to deploy an advanced enterprise AI called “Cristal Intelligence” in Japan. Contacted for a response, OpenAI declined to comment on the news.
OpenAI reportedly intends to bring its AI foundational models to the Japanese market, leveraging GPUs to develop models at the Sakai plant. SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture between SoftBank and OpenAI, will train models using clients’ data from marketing and other activities. The JV will then sell customized AI agents to clients, per a report by Nikkei.
The data center plan underscores how SoftBank and OpenAI are broadening the scope of their collaboration.
The two tech companies unveiled their joint venture in Japan following OpenAI’s collaborations with SoftBank, Oracle, and other companies to build several AI data centers in the U.S. The Japanese telco giant is also investing in OpenAI. Talks have been going on for months, and the latest is that SoftBank is reportedly investing as much as $25 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of nearly $300 billion. However, that fundraise has yet to close, nor be announced officially.
SoftBank’s purchase of the plant comes roughly 10 months after signing an MOU to construct a large AI data center at a plant Sharp previously used for LCD panel production.
SoftBank aims to commence operations in 2026. SoftBank expects the LCD panel factory to have sufficient power capacity to operate the AI data center, initially at around 150 megawatts and eventually increasing to over 240 megawatts.
The Sakai facility will be SoftBank’s third data center. It already operating a data center in Tokyo and another one is being built in Hokkaido.