SoftBank’s $33-B energy gamble

SoftBank Group is planning to build one of the world’s largest gas-fired power plants in Ohio, aiming to supply massive energy demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

The Japanese tech investor said the $33.3-billion project will have a generating capacity of 9.2 gigawatts and will rise at the US Department of Energy’s Portsmouth site.

The facility is expected to anchor a broader plan to power up to 10 gigawatts of data center capacity, as demand for AI infrastructure surges.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son described the project as unprecedented in scale.

“This is a size bigger than any power plant, I think, in the world,” Son said during the project’s announcement in Ohio.

“At least in the United States, for sure, this is the biggest power generation in one location,” he added.

The plant forms part of a wider $550-billion Japanese investment package in the United States tied to trade negotiations aimed at easing tariffs.

SoftBank, a major backer of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, is partnering with American and Japanese firms to develop both the power facility and AI infrastructure.

The Portsmouth site, once used for uranium enrichment during the Cold War, is now being repurposed as a hub to support the United States’ push to dominate the global AI race, according to the Department of Energy.

The project underscores the growing energy demands of AI technologies, as data centers for chatbots, image generators and other systems continue to expand worldwide.

A recent study showed US industrial investment jumped by nearly a third in 2025, driven largely by spending on AI and data centers.