Sharp has announced an agreement with mobile phone carrier KDDI to build an artificial intelligence center on the site of the electronics maker’s halted liquid crystal display panel plant in the city of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.
According to the Monday announcement, KDDI will start construction of the data center within fiscal 2024, which ends next March, after acquiring the land, buildings and electrical facilities for the plant. KDDI aims to fully launch its operations in fiscal 2025.
Sharp said in June that it had started talks on building an AI data center with KDDI and Tokyo-based system integrator Datasection. They initially planned to procure equipment including AI servers from California-based Super Micro Computer.
Monday’s announcement included the withdrawal of Datasection and Super Micro Computer from the discussions, and KDDI will proceed with the construction of the data center on its own. Still, the four companies will continue to cooperate in the project.
Sharp ceased operations at the Sakai plant, which had produced large LCD panels for television sets, in August.
It is also in talks with mobile phone carrier SoftBank on building a data center on the site.