SoftBank has begun construction on its Artificial Intelligence (AI) ready data center in Hokkaido, Japan. The facility is being built with a total investment of ¥ 65 billion (~US$ 456 million), and its first phase with a capacity of 50MW is scheduled for completion in 2026.
Plans for this data center were first announced in November 2023, when SoftBank announced that this will be one of the “Brain Data Center” facilities. Softbank had in it Integrated Report 2024 further revealed that the facility will eventually have a capacity of 300MW.
According to a report by News on Japan, the ground breaking ceremony was held on April 15. The publication also quoted SoftBank President Junichi Miyagawa as saying, “We’re building an AI data center of this scale in Tomakomai, and we want this to become the core of an industrial cluster.”
According to SoftBank, the data center plans to cover all its power needs with renewable energy from within Hokkaido Prefecture, making it a model case of “locally produced for locally consumed” data center. It also revealed that a part of the investment i.e up to ¥30 billion to be covered by subsidies from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In addition to being used for in-house generative AI development and other AI-related projects, the data center will also be made available to a wide range of universities, research institutes, and companies to meet the growing need for AI-related usage.
AloJapan.com