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Yes—SoftBank was identified as the buyer of Foxconn’s former electric-vehicle plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Foxconn said the factory and its machinery sold for a reported $375 million. The companies planned to convert the site into a manufacturing operation for AI servers and other data-center equipment connected to the broader Stargate initiative. Foxconn was expected to keep operating the facility through a partnership or joint venture.
The important distinction is that Lordstown was described primarily as an AI-hardware factory, not a completed Stargate computing campus. The transaction’s ownership structure, financing, production schedule and ultimate role in Stargate remained partly undisclosed.
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What happened, and when?
Foxconn first announced that it had sold its Lordstown property and electric-vehicle manufacturing equipment to an unnamed buyer. Reporting identified the purchaser as Crescent Dune LLC, a Delaware company created shortly before the transaction. On August 8, 2025, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank was behind the purchase. Foxconn Chairman Young Liu later said publicly that SoftBank had bought the site.
That sequence explains why early headlines used “reportedly.” Public coverage identifies SoftBank as the buyer, but it does not provide a complete purchase agreement, a detailed ownership chain for Crescent Dune LLC, or every closing condition.
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Which Ohio facility is involved?
The property is the former General Motors and Lordstown Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, Trumbull County, Ohio. Foxconn acquired the factory from Lordstown Motors in late 2021, with the transaction closing in 2022. Lordstown Motors subsequently filed for bankruptcy.
Foxconn had intended to make the site a major North American electric-vehicle manufacturing and research hub. Several prospective EV customers later failed to materialize, leaving Monarch Tractor as the reported remaining customer of Foxconn’s Ohio contract-manufacturing operation. Secondary coverage has put the facility at approximately 6.2 million square feet, a size estimate rather than a disclosed term of the SoftBank sale. TechCrunch reviews the plant’s ownership and EV history.
How much did SoftBank pay?
Foxconn said the factory and machinery were sold for $375 million, according to a Reuters account. That figure describes the reported property-and-equipment transaction. It is not a statement of SoftBank’s total spending on utilities, retrofitting, production equipment, staffing or future expansion.
Nor is it the value of Stargate. Stargate has been described as a separate, broader AI-infrastructure initiative with a potential investment target of up to $500 billion over four years. The headline target is not money already invested in Ohio, and the available reporting does not establish that OpenAI paid for or owns the Lordstown property.
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What will the Lordstown plant make?
Foxconn and SoftBank planned to convert the former EV facility into an AI-server and data-center-equipment manufacturing site. Reports describe SoftBank supplying or funding manufacturing equipment while Foxconn continues to operate the plant through a venture or similar collaboration.
Possible output categories include servers and related data-center hardware, but the companies have not publicly specified a final product mix, production capacity or customer allocation. The evidence supports a manufacturing role; it does not establish that the building itself will immediately function as a hyperscale data center running computing workloads.
How does this connect to Stargate?
Stargate was announced in January 2025 as an AI-infrastructure effort involving SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, with a stated potential investment of up to $500 billion over four years. The initial announcement centered on a data-center project in Texas and contemplated expansion to additional locations. Reuters’ account describes the Ohio manufacturing collaboration and the $375 million sale.
Lordstown therefore appears to support the hardware and supply-chain side of Stargate. Calling it simply “the Stargate data center” would overstate what has been disclosed: a factory that produces AI infrastructure is not the same thing as a commissioned computing campus.
Why reuse an EV factory for AI infrastructure?
Existing industrial capacity
A large automotive plant already has heavy-duty space, loading areas, utilities, industrial access and established logistics. Repurposing such an asset can be faster than developing an equivalent greenfield site, although conversion still requires engineering, permits, equipment installation and power planning.
Foxconn’s manufacturing expertise
Foxconn brings experience assembling electronics at scale. Keeping Foxconn involved separates ownership from operations: SoftBank can control the asset and investment direction while Foxconn supplies manufacturing management and production know-how.
U.S. supply-chain positioning
Domestic production could place servers, racks and associated data-center equipment closer to U.S. customers and infrastructure projects. Liu said the project’s priorities included power, venue and timing, and characterized Ohio as suitable. Those strategic reasons do not prove that the site already has secured grid capacity, permits, customers or a production launch date.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Foxconn’s continuing role means
This was not a simple exit by Foxconn. Reporting said Foxconn would continue operating the facility and participate in its conversion to AI-server or data-center-equipment production. SoftBank would own or acquire the property through the reported transaction, while day-to-day manufacturing could remain under a joint venture or comparable arrangement. Bloomberg Law summarizes Foxconn’s expected operating role.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThat distinction matters when interpreting headlines: ownership of the real estate, operation of the factory and use of the manufactured equipment are separate questions.
What remains uncertain?
- The full legal identity, ownership chain and transaction documents for Crescent Dune LLC.
- Whether every stage of the sale had closed at the time each report was published.
- SoftBank’s additional spending on conversion, equipment, utilities and expansion.
- The exact products, capacity and customers for the Ohio operation.
- Permitting, power procurement, grid interconnection and construction milestones.
- Employment levels and an operating or production start date.
- Whether output will serve particular Stargate campuses, other customers, or both.
- Whether the property will ever host a functioning data center in addition to manufacturing equipment.
- How the conversion affects Monarch Tractor, which reporting identified as Foxconn’s remaining Ohio EV customer; no cited report establishes that its contract was terminated.
Bloomberg also reported that SoftBank had not yet completed a full financial blueprint for Stargate and had faced difficulty lining up funding. That context raises execution questions for the wider initiative, but it is not proof that the Ohio acquisition or conversion will fail. Bloomberg’s original report provides that financing context.
Why the deal matters beyond Lordstown
Lordstown illustrates how the AI boom is creating demand for physical industrial capacity, not only software and cloud services. A stranded EV asset can be repositioned toward servers, racks, power systems, cooling equipment or other components needed to build AI data centers.
The arrangement also highlights a recurring infrastructure model: one company owns or finances a site, another operates the manufacturing process, and a broader consortium supplies demand. Its success will depend on financing, electricity, equipment orders, permitting and customer commitments that were not fully disclosed in the reports available.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did OpenAI buy Foxconn’s Ohio factory?
No. The reporting identifies SoftBank as the purchaser. OpenAI is a participant in the broader Stargate initiative, but the available accounts do not identify it as the owner or direct buyer of the Lordstown property.
Will the Ohio site be a Stargate data center?
The disclosed plan centers on manufacturing AI servers and data-center equipment. It has not been established that the former EV plant itself will operate as a completed hyperscale computing campus.
Is the $375 million the value of Stargate?
No. It is the reported price for the Ohio factory and machinery. Stargate’s separate headline target has been described as up to $500 billion over four years.
The Bottom Line
SoftBank’s purchase of Foxconn’s former Lordstown EV plant was supported by later reporting and Foxconn’s chairman, with a reported $375 million price and a plan for Foxconn to keep operating the site. The clearest description is an AI-server and data-center-equipment manufacturing project linked to Stargate—not proof that Ohio is already a Stargate data center or that the broader initiative’s financing and timetable are settled.
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