SoftBank, which has struggled to create a financial plan for Stargate, approached Foxconn to get the Apple supplier on board with its plan to build data centers and related infrastructure throughout the U.S., which led to the sale of the plant, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Foxconn spent years promising electric vehicles would be built at the former Chevy Cruze factory. Now it will make AI servers.

SoftBank Group Corp. is the buyer taking ownership of Foxconn Technology Group’s electric vehicle plant in Ohio, a move aimed at kick-starting the Japanese company’s $500 billion Stargate data center project with OpenAI and Oracle Corp.

Foxconn, officially Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer. It assembles Apple Inc.’s iPhones and supplies servers to multiple cloud providers. The company is also active in numerous other markets including the auto sector.

The SoftBank Group has reportedly acquired Foxconn's Ohio EV factory through Crescent Dune LLC for US$375 million, aiming to advance its Stargate AI infrastructure initiative with OpenAI and Oracle, despite neither company confirming the deal.

SoftBank has reportedly bought Foxconn Ohio EV plant at $375 million to advance the Stargate AI data center project in collaboration with OpenAI and Oracle.

Earlier this week, Hon Hai Precision Industry, the flagship unit of Foxconn, said it agreed to sell the EV plant to Crescent Dune LLC for $375M without disclosing the company behind the entity. SoftBank is Foxconn’s counterparty in the transaction, the report noted.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the purchase is the result of efforts by SoftBank to involve Foxconn in the $500 billion Stargate data center project, which the Japanese investment company is currently undertaking with OpenAI, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi's MGX.