SoftBank to Build World's Largest AI Data Center in Ohio

U.S. government officials and corporate leaders announced the construction of the world's largest AI data center and technology campus in Pike County, Ohio. The project will be located on the site of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility.

SoftBank Group is providing $1.5 trillion in funding for the development. The massive campus will include the data center, a $33 billion natural gas-powered plant, and 18 small modular nuclear reactors to ensure a stable electricity supply. The project is expected to employ 35,000 workers during construction.

The U.S. Department of Energy is currently spending between $14 billion and $18 billion to decontaminate the radioactive brownfield site. While AI data centers have sparked protests in other regions over pollution and resource consumption, the Pike County project is viewed as a significant economic driver and a strategic repurposing of industrial land.