SoftBank has reportedly acquired Foxconn’s former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, for its Stargate artificial intelligence server production, as reported by Bloomberg News.
This acquisition follows Foxconn’s late July announcement of the factory’s sale, including electric vehicle manufacturing equipment, to “Crescent Dune LLC,” a Delaware-established entity. Neither SoftBank nor Foxconn has publicly commented on the transaction. SoftBank intends to utilize the facility for building AI servers, supporting the Stargate data center initiative, a collaborative project involving SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle.
The implications for Monarch Tractor remain unconfirmed. Monarch Tractor, a California-based developer of electric and autonomous farm equipment, was Foxconn’s sole remaining contract manufacturing customer at the Ohio plant. Other prospective customers of Foxconn’s operations at the facility, including Lordstown Motors, Fisker Inc., and California startup IndiEV, subsequently ceased operations or filed for bankruptcy. Monarch CEO Praveen Penmetsa has not yet issued a statement regarding the factory sale.
The Stargate project, announced by SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, initially involved a large data center under construction in Texas. The participating companies expressed intentions to expand infrastructure to additional states and countries. Bloomberg reported in May that SoftBank was encountering challenges in securing funding for the project, with progress reportedly affected by trade disputes. Foxconn acquired the Lordstown factory in late 2021 from electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors.
Foxconn chairman Young Liu stated at the time that the company aimed to transform the site into a prominent electric vehicle manufacturing and research and development hub in North America. The factory sale was finalized in 2022, and Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy one year later.
