Softbank to buy Sharp's Osaka facility
Japanese investment giant SoftBank has reached an agreement with Sharp to convert its Sakai plant site from an LCD television panel factory into an AI data centre.
SoftBank says it is aiming to construct the new plant by inheriting the land, buildings, electric power supply facilities, cooling systems and other resources of the Sharp Sakai Plant. The new facility will measure 750,000 square metres and should go live in its new capacity from 2025. Softbank expects to increase the power capacity of the data centre from 150 megawatts to more than 400 megawatts.
It plans to use this data centre for its own generative AI development and also intends to invite universities, research institutions, businesses and others to access the resource.
The deal is a good result for Sharp, which has struggled to make its LCD business profitable, and had previously announced it would end production at the Sakai plant by September.
