SoftBank is marching ahead on its ambitions to build out a major AI operation in its home market of Japan, on its own steam and in strategic partnership

SoftBank plans to transform a former Sharp LCD panel plant in Japan into a data center for operating artificial intelligence agents developed in collaboration with U.S.-based ChatGPT creator, OpenAI,

The Japanese telecom giant is set to purchase the facility and a portion of the land at Sharp's shuttered TV liquid crystal display factory in Osaka for approximately 100 billion yen ($677.05 million),

For its joint venture with OpenAI, SoftBank has announced plans to spend $676 million on a factory in Japan, which it plans to turn into

SoftBank plans to transform a former Sharp LCD panel plant in Japan into a data centre for operating artificial intelligence agents developed in collaboration with U.S.-based ChatGPT creator, OpenAI,