AI Infrastructure Race Intensifies as Foxconn Partners with OpenAI, Google Expands in Taiwan
AI Infrastructure Race Intensifies as Foxconn Partners with OpenAI, Google Expands in Taiwan
Taipei, Taiwan & Ohio, USA – November 22, 2025 – The global race to build robust artificial intelligence infrastructure is reaching a fever pitch, with major new developments today signaling a significant acceleration in AI hardware manufacturing and strategic supply chain realignments. Taiwanese manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn) has announced a landmark partnership with OpenAI to co-design and manufacture next-generation AI infrastructure hardware in the United States, specifically eyeing production in Ohio. Simultaneously, Google officially unveiled its largest AI infrastructure hardware engineering center outside the U.S. in Taipei, Taiwan, further solidifying the island's critical role in the global AI ecosystem. These moves, coupled with Nvidia commencing the production of its cutting-edge AI chips in the U.S., underscore a profound global commitment to scaling AI capabilities and diversifying critical technology supply chains.
Today's announcements highlight a pivotal moment in the technology landscape, as leading AI developers and hardware manufacturers forge strategic alliances and expand their global footprints to meet the insatiable demand for AI computing power. The implications extend across AI development, national security, and global economic competition.
Hon Hai, widely known as Foxconn, confirmed its collaboration with OpenAI to develop and produce advanced hardware for AI data centers in the United States. While initial research and development are slated for San Jose, California, the company intends to pivot to Ohio for manufacturing, leveraging its existing production facilities there. This partnership will focus on custom server racks, cabling, power systems, and cooling gear meticulously tuned for demanding AI workloads. Foxconn plans a substantial investment, ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion, to enhance its U.S. manufacturing capabilities, with an ambitious goal of assembling up to 2,000 AI server racks per week by 2026. This initiative not only aims to strengthen and simplify the U.S. AI supply chain but also to build critical AI data center components domestically.
Concurrently, Google has inaugurated its largest AI infrastructure hardware engineering center outside the United States in Taipei, Taiwan. This multidisciplinary hub, launched on November 20, 2025, is set to become a vital nexus for the engineering, development, and testing of advanced AI hardware systems. The center will house hundreds of engineers specializing in hardware, software, testing, and lab operations, demonstrating Google's deep commitment to accelerating AI innovation and fortifying its global AI infrastructure. A primary focus of the Taipei center will be the intricate process of integrating AI processors, such as Google's proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), onto motherboards and subsequently assembling them into high-performance servers. This strategic location capitalizes on Taiwan's unparalleled leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and its robust technology ecosystem, promising to expedite development cycles and enhance the efficiency of AI hardware deployment.
Adding to this strategic geographical shift in AI hardware production, Nvidia has commenced the production of its cutting-edge Blackwell wafers on American soil, in partnership with TSMC Arizona Fab 21. This marks the first instance of a flagship AI GPU at TSMC's 4nm-class node being produced in the U.S., signaling a significant step towards duplicating the entire backend supply chain, including advanced packaging, in domestic facilities.
These concurrent developments underscore a global imperative among tech giants to secure and diversify the supply chains for the foundational hardware that powers the AI revolution. As AI models like OpenAI's GPT-5.1 with enhanced reasoning and Google's Gemini 3.0 Pro continue to advance, the demand for sophisticated and reliable AI infrastructure will only continue to surge. The moves by Foxconn, OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia are not just about manufacturing; they represent a strategic realignment of the global technology landscape, emphasizing resilience, innovation, and a distributed approach to building the future of artificial intelligence.