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SoftBank plans AI data center battery plant
SoftBank Corp, the mobile unit of Japan’s SoftBank Group, plans to convert part of its factory in Sakai, Osaka into a large battery production line for AI data centers.
The company aims to start output within five years.
CEO Junichi Miyakawa is expected to announce the project in May as part of a new five-year plan, though the details may still change and the venture needs board approval.
The plant could produce several gigawatt hours of batteries, making it one of Japan’s largest production lines.
It would initially supply SoftBank’s own data centers at the former Sharp LCD factory it bought for 100 billion yen (US$627 million) in 2025.
🔗 Source: Bloomberg
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
The battery factory is one part of a larger AI buildout
- The Sakai project centers on a large AI data center, with battery production as one element of the site 1.
- SoftBank plans a facility with 750,000 square meters of total floor space 2.
- The campus is set for more than 150 megawatts of power for AI computing 2.
- SoftBank bought the former Sharp Sakai Plant site for about US$673 million. The company aims to begin operating the AI data center by the end of 2026 3.
Tech companies are moving deeper into energy to power AI
- SoftBank’s plan fits a wider industry push to secure electricity for AI, alongside access to chips.
- Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group, has discussed an Ohio project with a 9.2-gigawatt gas-fired power plant. The broader site would support 10 gigawatts of data center capacity 4.
- OpenAI and SoftBank Group also invested US$1 billion in SB Energy, a renewable energy developer, to support planned AI data center expansion 5.
- That spending comes as AI facilities expand worldwide. About 22.8 gigawatts of data center IT capacity, meaning computing capacity, is under construction 6.
Recent SoftBank developments
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