According to reports, SoftBank is the mystery buyer of a former General Motors plant in Lordstown (Ohio) that was owned by Foxconn. Bloomberg NewsSoftBank plans to use the factory for the Stargate datacenter project spearheaded by OpenAI and Oracle, as well as the Japanese conglomerate.
This report comes only a few days after Foxconn revealed that it had sold its factory and the electric vehicle manufacturing equipment inside to a buyer that it only referred as “Crescent Dune LLC”an entity that was formed in Delaware late July. Both companies did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
What this means for Monarch Tractor is unclear. The California-based startup develops electric and self-driving farm equipment. Monarch Tractor was the sole customer of Foxconn’s contract manufacturing operation in the Ohio factory after the other three prospective customers of the Taiwanese technology giant went bankrupt. Monarch CEO Praveen Pennmetsa did not respond to email requests for comment.
SoftBank announced the Stargate Project one day after Donald Trump was inaugurated. The Stargate project involves a massive data center being built in Texas. However, the companies involved want to build infrastructure across other states and countries. In May, Bloomberg reported SoftBank was struggling with funding for the project, and that it had already been hampered by Trump’s many trade wars.
Foxconn purchased the factory from electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors in late 2021. Foxconn chairman Young Liu stated that his company wanted to make the site the “most important electric car manufacturing and R&D center in North America.” Fisker Inc., a California startup IndiEV and other prospective customers also went out-of-business.
Sean O’Kane, a reporter with a decade of experience covering the rapidly evolving business and technology in the transportation industry including Tesla and many startups chasing Elon Musk, is a reporter. He was a reporter for Bloomberg News, where he broke stories about some of EV SPAC’s most notorious flops. He worked previously at The Verge where he covered consumer technology and hosted many short and long-form video, performed product and editing photography, and nearly passed out on a Red Bull Air Race aircraft.
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