SoftBank Corp. to Build Large-Scale AI Data Center in Osaka — Update

By Kosaku Narioka

SoftBank Corp. plans to build a large-scale data center for artificial intelligence applications at Sharp Corp.'s Sakai plant in Osaka, Japan.

The Japanese telecom unit of SoftBank Group said Friday that it would use the data center for its own generative AI development, as well as other AI-related businesses. It aims to start full-scale operations of the data center in 2025.

SoftBank Corp. said it would consider working on AI-related businesses with Sharp, a Japanese unit of Foxconn Technology Group, going forward.

Sharp said in May that it would halt the production of display panels at the Sakai plant by the end of September, citing weak demand, adding that it was looking for other business uses for the site.

SoftBank Corp. said it aims to quickly build the data center by taking over the land, buildings and other facilities of the Sakai plant.

The company said the data center would have the power capacity of about 150 megawatts on a site of about 440,000 square meters, accounting for about 60% of the Sakai plant's total land area.

Japanese tech start-up Datasection also said Monday that it would set up a joint venture with Sharp and another Japanese telecom company, KDDI, to build an AI data center at the Sakai plant.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2024 05:57 ET (09:57 GMT)

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