OpenAI, Foxconn team up to build future AI data-centre gear in US

OpenAI has entered into a collaboration with Taiwan’s Foxconn to accelerate US manufacturing and design of next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure hardware, the AI firm said on Thursday.

The companies will work on design and manufacturing readiness for multiple generations of data-centre hardware, OpenAI said in a statement.

The agreement does not include purchase commitments or financial obligations, though OpenAI will have early access to evaluate the systems and an option to buy them.

OpenAI said it will share insight into emerging AI hardware needs, while Foxconn will manufacture data-centre components, including cabling, networking, cooling and power systems, at its US facilities.

The companies said the effort aims to simplify and strengthen the US AI supply chain, broaden sourcing to domestic suppliers and expand testing and assembly within the country.

The partnership comes as AI model development drives demand for new classes of servers and compute infrastructure.

Building that hardware in the United States is “essential to strengthening supply chains and supporting continued American leadership in AI,” OpenAI said.

“As the world’s largest manufacturer of AI data servers, Foxconn is uniquely positioned to support OpenAI’s mission with trusted, scalable infrastructure,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the infrastructure behind advanced AI represents “a generational opportunity to reindustrialise America.”

“This partnership is a step toward ensuring the core technologies of the AI era are built here. We believe this work will strengthen US leadership and help ensure the benefits of AI are widely shared.”