On Thursday local time, OpenAI announced a partnership with Foxconn. Foxconn and Hon Hai have reached a cooperation agreement to jointly promote the next generation of artificial intelligence. The two companies are designing (AI) infrastructure hardware and preparing for its domestic manufacturing in the United States. Both are trying to capitalize on the booming demand for AI infrastructure.
As part of the collaboration, OpenAI will share its insights into emerging hardware demands in the artificial intelligence industry, providing a reference for the design and development of hardware manufactured at Foxconn's US factories. Foxconn stated that it will collaborate with OpenAI to design and manufacture data centers. Racks, components, and other artificial intelligence hardware.
It is understood that although the preliminary agreement does not include any procurement commitments, OpenAI will have priority evaluation rights and reserve the option to procure in the future.
Foxconn is the world's largest electronics manufacturer and a major supplier to Nvidia. A leading AI server manufacturer. This collaboration will allow Foxconn to understand the growing computing power needs of large AI companies and help design products that meet the requirements of advanced large-scale language models.
Just last week, Foxconn expressed optimism about demand related to artificial intelligence, stating that as the company catches up with the data center boom and benefits from billions of dollars in investment from large technology companies, AI will be a major driver of growth in 2026. It also foreshadowed the aforementioned deal with OpenAI.
Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei stated in an earnings call that the importance of artificial intelligence will increase significantly next year, but the company will also closely monitor geopolitical and exchange rate issues.
"Overall, based on the information we have now, I am very optimistic about the artificial intelligence market next year," he said.
Despite the recent surge in AI-related investment raising significant market concerns—potentially creating a "boom and bust" scenario similar to the dot-com bubble—Liu Yangwei believes the artificial intelligence industry is still in its infancy.
"The development of artificial intelligence is still in its early stages," he added.
On the other hand, this deal also expands OpenAI's involvement in hardware design, following its previously announced partnership with Broadcom. (Broadcom) collaborated to develop its own custom chips.
Analysts point out that Foxconn will manufacture data center components, including cables, power systems, and network equipment, at its U.S. factories, which will strengthen the supply chain and circumvent any tariffs that the Trump administration may impose.
In addition, Foxconn announced on Thursday a joint venture with Alphabet subsidiary Intrinsic to establish general-purpose robots in its manufacturing facilities. The collaboration will focus on automation facilities to accelerate manufacturing capabilities. Initially, it will cover a range of scenarios in the manufacturing process, including assembly, inspection, machine maintenance, and logistics applications.
(Article source: CLS)
