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# SoftBank is converting a Sharp LCD factory into a battery plant for AI data centres. The data centres cannot wait five years.

**[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 8 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

SoftBank plans to convert part of the former Sharp LCD factory in Sakai, Osaka into one of Japan's largest battery production lines for AI data centres, with production expected around 2031. The move extends SoftBank's vertical integration stack — already spanning chip design (Arm, Graphcore, Ampere), modular data centre manufacturing (Lordstown), and solar energy (SB Energy) — into energy storage hardware. The factory is tied to the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project, but the five-year timeline means it won't help with current energy storage shortages. SoftBank carries ~$135 billion in debt with an S&P negative credit outlook, and the battery chemistry for the factory hasn't even been disclosed. The piece frames this as either the most ambitious vertically integrated AI infrastructure play ever attempted, or a conglomerate building faster than it can finance.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://thenextweb.com/news/softbank-is-converting-a-sharp-lcd-factory-into-a-battery-plant-for-ai-data-centres-the-data-centres-cannot-wait-five-years>

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