On May 8, Nikkei News reported that Japan's SoftBank Corp. is gearing up to develop and manufacture artificial intelligence (AI) servers within the country. With the support of industry giants NVIDIA and Foxconn, SoftBank anticipates commencing the design and assembly of related components by the end of this decade. Specifically, the mobile communication division of SoftBank Group will concentrate on the research and development of high-performance servers, striving to enable high-speed operation of cutting-edge graphics processing units (GPUs).

This ambitious project is slated to be incorporated into SoftBank's medium-term management plan, which is expected to be unveiled as early as Monday. At present, SoftBank has engaged in discussions with both NVIDIA and Foxconn concerning the development and production of these servers. NVIDIA boasts a certification system for its GPU servers, while Foxconn stands as one of the world's foremost contract manufacturers of AI servers.

As AI technology becomes increasingly prevalent, there is a burgeoning demand for 'sovereign AI' services—those developed and operated domestically to safeguard against data breaches. Domestic AI servers are pivotal in realizing this objective. However, at present, only a handful of companies in Japan are involved in such production, with Fujitsu and NEC being the notable exceptions.