Foxconn to work with OpenAI, Intrinsic on AI development in U.S.

Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. announced on Friday that it will partner with ChatGPT developer OpenAI and Alphabet's Intrinsic in artificial intelligence cooperation in the United States.

In a statement, Hon Hai, known as Foxconn globally, said its collaboration with OpenAI will focus on "design work and U.S. manufacturing readiness for the next generation of AI infrastructure hardware."

The announcement came after Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said at an investor conference on Nov. 12 that his company had been in discussions with OpenAI on data center development.

Under the partnership, OpenAI will "share insight into emerging hardware needs across the AI industy," helping inform Hon Hai's "design and development efforts for hardware to be manufactured" at its facilities in the United States, according to Hon Hai.

The partnership will also emphasize developing data center hardware, strengthening and simplifying U.S. AI supply chain hardware, and building critical AI data center components in the U.S., the company said.

While the initial agreement does not include purchase commitments or financial obligations, Hon Hai said, OpenAI will have early access to evaluate these systems and an option to purchase these devices.

"Building this infrastructure in the U.S. is essential to strengthening supply chains and supporting continued American leadership in AI," Hon Hai said.

In a separate statement, Hon Hai said it is setting up a joint venture with Alphabet's Intrinsic to build an AI robotics factory of the future.

The planned factory will focus on AI-enabled robotics, which Hon Hai said hold enormous potential for the manufacturing sector and production because they will make operations more flexible, adaptive and cost effective.

Initially, Hon Hai said, the deal will join with Intrinsic Flowstate -- a developer environment to build automation solutions -- on assembly, inspection, machine management and logistics development to "automate newly possible solutions in electronics assembly."

"The goal will be to shift from product-specific automation solutions requiring significant re-engineering across product generations, to more general-purpose intelligent robotics, as well as automating previously manual processes," Hon Hai said.