The Japanese group SoftBank declared on Saturday that it plans to build a gigantic natural gas-powered power plant in the American state of Ohio to provide energy for data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).
SoftBank has big plans. The Japanese group announced on Saturday its intentions to construct a massive natural gas-fired power plant in the state of Ohio to supply energy to data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).
The Japanese technology investment giant SoftBank is a major supporter of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Its CEO, Masayoshi Son, has been a long-time ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The natural gas power plant is part of a broad $550 billion Japanese investment program in the United States, which Tokyo agreed to in exchange for a reduction in tariffs. The construction of the $33.3 billion power plant, with a “large-scale” production capacity of 9.2 gigawatts (GW), will take place on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth site, as stated by SoftBank.
“It’s larger than any power plant in the world, I think,” Masayoshi Son stated during a ceremony in Ohio to announce the project on Friday.
“At least in the United States, it will definitely be the largest energy production in one place,” he added.
A capacity of 10 GW to power data centers
The power plant is part of an overall plan to equip the site with a capacity of 10 GW to power data centers, as announced by the U.S. Department of Energy in a statement.
“Once a pillar of American national security during the Cold War, enriching uranium for our country’s defense, the Portsmouth site is now being transformed to help the United States win the AI race,” the text reads.
SoftBank announced on Saturday the creation of a consortium with major American and Japanese companies to contribute to the construction of the power plant and the development of AI infrastructure in Ohio.
Data centers capable of training and operating conversational robots, image generators, and other AI tools are being built on a large scale worldwide. Investments in this rapidly evolving technology show no signs of slowing down.
A study published last month showed that industrial investment had jumped by over a third in 2025 due to investments in AI and data centers in the United States.
