TAIPEI, Taiwan — OpenAI and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn have agreed to partner to develop and manufacture key hardware for artificial intelligence data centers in the United States as part of ambitious plans to strengthen America's artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Foxconn, which makes artificial intelligence servers for Nvidia and assembles Apple products including the iPhone, will work with OpenAI to design and develop racks for artificial intelligence data centers under the agreement, the companies said in separate statements on Thursday and Friday.
Foxconn products will be manufactured at its U.S. facilities, including cables, networking systems and power systems for artificial intelligence data centers, the companies said. OpenAI will have “early access” to evaluate and potentially purchase them.
Foxconn has factories in the United States, including in Ohio and Texas. The initial agreement does not include any financial or purchase commitments, the statement said.
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer is looking to diversify its business by developing electric vehicles and acquiring other electronics companies to expand its offerings.
“This partnership is a step toward ensuring that the core technologies of the AI era are built here,” Sam Altman, CEO of San Francisco-based OpenAI, said in a statement. “We believe this work will strengthen U.S. leadership and help ensure the benefits of AI are shared widely.”
OpenAI has committed $1.4 trillion to build artificial intelligence infrastructure. He recently joined multi-billion dollar partnerships with Nvidia and AMD to expand the computing power needed to support artificial intelligence models and services. This is also partnership with American chip manufacturer Broadcom in the development and production of our own artificial intelligence chips.
But the massive spending plans have worried investors, casting doubt on the company's ability to recoup its investment and remain profitable. Altman said this month that OpenAI, the startup founded in 2015 and creator of ChatGPT, is expected to reach more than $20 billion in annual revenue this year and grow to “hundreds of billions” by 2030.
Foxconn's Taiwan-listed share price has risen 25% this year, along with rising prices for many tech companies benefiting from the artificial intelligence craze.
The Taiwanese company's net profit in the July-September quarter rose 17% from a year earlier to just over NT$57.6 billion ($1.8 billion), with revenue from its cloud and networking business, including artificial intelligence servers, making the biggest contribution to the business.
“We believe the importance of the artificial intelligence industry is growing significantly,” Liu said during a Foxconn conference call this month.
“I am very optimistic about the development of artificial intelligence in the next year and expect our cooperation with major customers and partners to become even closer,” Liu said.
___
Chan reported from Hong Kong.
