To cash in on AI boom, Foxconn partners with OpenAI to design, engineer data centre racks

Foxconn has joined hands with OpenAI to design and engineer hardware required by artificial intelligence, including data centre racks and components, as both companies aim to capitalise on booming demand for AI infrastructure.

While the initial agreement does not include purchase commitments or financial obligations, OpenAI will have early access to evaluate the systems and an option to buy them, Foxconn said.

The partnership between the two firms will allow Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, to an insight into the growing hardware needs of large AI companies like OpenAI and help design products that meet the requirements of advanced large language models.

The Nvidia supplier last week offered a bullish outlook on AI-related demand, saying it would be a big driver of 2026 growth as Foxconn rides the data centre boom and benefits from the billions invested by Big Tech firms.

More from Tech

The agreement deepens OpenAI’s push into hardware development, adding to its existing partnership with Broadcom to build custom chips as the company moves toward a more direct role in designing the systems that power its AI models.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the company plans to invest $1.4 trillion to build 30 gigawatts of computing capacity, an amount of power comparable to what roughly 25 million US homes consume.

Foxconn will manufacture the data centre components, which include cables, power systems, and networking equipment, at its US facilities, bolstering supply chains and side-stepping any potential tariffs from the Trump administration.

Separately on Thursday, Foxconn announced a joint venture with Alphabet unit Intrinsic to establish general-purpose robotics and automation across manufacturing facilities to speed up production.

Initially, the collaboration will cover a range of scenarios across assembly, inspection, machine tending and logistics applications.

With inputs from agencies