Masayoshi Son plans $500 billion AI hub in Ohio, moves closer to Trump

Reporter Seo Hye-jin in Tokyo for Financial News — Masayoshi Son, head of Japan’s SoftBank Group, is moving ahead with plans to build a massive artificial intelligence (AI) data center in the U.S. state of Ohio.
According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun (The Nikkei) on the 22nd, Son announced the AI data center project on the 20th (local time) at a groundbreaking ceremony for a gas-fired power plant held in Piketon, Ohio.
Specifically, the plan is to develop an industrial cluster centered on the data center, led by the "Portsmouth Consortium". The consortium will include 12 Japanese companies such as SoftBank Group, Toshiba, Hitachi, Mizuho Bank and Mitsui Sumitomo Bank, along with nine U.S. companies including Goldman Sachs.
Son stated, "We will first invest $500 billion, and then upgrade semiconductors and systems every five years. Over the next 20 years, we will invest an additional $1 trillion," adding, "As a single investment, this will be the largest in human history."
He also stressed that the data center will be larger than the combined scale of all AI data centers operated by global companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Oracle.
SoftBank Group will not shoulder the entire $500 billion investment on its own. SoftBank Group will oversee construction of the data center buildings and power facilities through large-scale borrowing, while big tech companies will share the cost of servers and AI semiconductors, which account for 60–70% of the total investment.
After the ceremony, Son told reporters, "Bidding has already begun for participation in the data center investment, and preliminary contracts are expected to be signed in April," adding, "There is a possibility that multiple companies will take part." Based on this, the goal is to break ground on the data center within the year.
Regarding Son’s decision to unveil such a large project before partner companies have been finalized, The Nikkei explained, "He has long expanded his businesses by first presenting the ‘big picture’ and then drawing in investors and partners."
The paper added, "In this case as well, Son is playing a ‘political–business’ role, coordinating U.S.-Japan investment while pushing ahead with his AI vision."
In fact, Son is one of the few Japanese business leaders who can communicate directly with U.S. President Donald John Trump. Trump is said to call him "Masa" in a friendly manner.
Some observers speculate that Son may receive compensation for acting as a coordinator of U.S.-Japan investment.
Financial Times (FT) reported that SoftBank Group was initially expected to earn a success fee of about 1 trillion yen (around 9.46 trillion won) for its central role in Japan’s investment in the United States, but that this fee may ultimately be cut by more than 90%.
Son has repeatedly emphasized his intention to ramp up investment in the United States, saying, "The overwhelming center of the world today is the U.S." In February, he announced an additional $30 billion investment in OpenAI, bringing the total to roughly 10 trillion yen (about 94.6 trillion won).
However, there are concerns about concentrating too much capital in OpenAI. Critics warn that, amid fierce competition, his portfolio could become overly skewed toward a single company.
The Nikkei also pointed out that it remains unclear whether Son can actually secure the funds needed to support such large-scale investment plans. In fact, SoftBank Group’s share price is currently down about 49% from its peak last October.

sjmary@fnnews.com Seo Hye-jin Reporter