Synopsis
SoftBank is exploring plans to manufacture artificial intelligence servers within Japan. The company is in talks with chip giant Nvidia and contract manufacturer Foxconn. Initially, SoftBank aims to assemble components sourced from abroad. This initiative is part of SoftBank's upcoming medium-term management plan. The focus will be on high-performance servers for advanced AI applications.The Japanese telecom company wants to build a production system by initially assembling externally sourced components by the end of the decade, before eventually taking charge of the entire server manufacturing process, Nikkei added.
The unit will focus on high-performance servers capable of running advanced graphics processing units at high speeds, the report also said.
The project will be part of SoftBank's medium-term management plan, which, according to Nikkei, could be announced as soon as Monday.
The development comes after Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group poured in more than $30 billion in investments in OpenAI so far, for about an 11% stake, in an "all-in" bet that it will emerge as a winner in the battle among developers of large language models.
