A former Sharp LCD panel facility in Osaka has been reported to have been purchased by the Japanese technology corporation SoftBank for about 100 billion yen ($676 million). The Sharp Sakai Plant facility will be transformed into a massive artificial intelligence (AI) data centre.
SoftBank’s aims to expand its AI capabilities, especially through its partnership with OpenAI, will be supported by the data facility. The new facility will facilitate the development and implementation of cutting-edge AI solutions, further solidifying the Japanese company’s position in the AI industry. SoftBank and OpenAI are reportedly collaborating through SB OpenAI Japan, a joint company that will concentrate on exploiting consumer data from a variety of businesses to train AI models.
BrandSpur technology and information news desk reports that after that, these models will be applied to commercial AI agents. This project supports SoftBank’s objective of incorporating AI into Japanese enterprise products. It is anticipated that the facility will start up in 2026.
According to SoftBank, the plant’s current electrical infrastructure can handle a 150-megawatt initial capacity, which might grow to more than 240 megawatts if demand rises. After the company’s current facilities in Tokyo and Hokkaido, this location will be its third data centre.
The acquisition of the Sakai facility by SoftBank comes after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a sizable data centre with an AI focus was signed about a year ago. The action also coincides with reports that SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, valuing the AI startup based in the United States at close to $300 billion.
Although neither SoftBank nor OpenAI have made any public statements regarding the most recent events, the acquisition demonstrates SoftBank’s strong desire to advance the global AI infrastructure market.
