SoftBank to build massive AI datacenter on former US nuclear weapons site

Summary

Softbank's SB Energy is redeveloping Department of Energy (DoE) land in Ohio for a massive datacenter campus, adding extra generation facilities and power infrastructure alongside it. The Japanese investment giant's digital infrastructure and energy arm is leasing federal land at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, to build a 10-gigawatt (GW) server farm. SB Energy will also build 10 GW of new generation capacity, at least 9.2 GW of it gas-fired, feeding both the local grid and the datacenter. Separately, SB Energy and American Electric Power (AEP) Ohio have struck a $4.2 billion deal to upgrade and expand electrical transmission infrastructure across Southern Ohio, a move both parties claim will lower utility bills for local homes and businesses. AEP expects power to reach the site by 2029. The project is framed as consistent with President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which aims to shield consumers from price increases driven by surging AI infrastructure demand. According to the DoE, SB Energy has also committed to funding accelerated cleanup of the Portsmouth site, which was formerly used to produce enriched uranium for both civilian nuclear power and the US weapons program. SoftBank has announced a "Portsmouth Consortium" of companies and financial institutions interested in participating, including Japanese firms Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba, TDK and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, alongside US names Bechtel, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. The same site has separately been chosen by nuclear developer Oklo, in a joint venture with Centrus Energy, for a uranium processing facility, and by Meta as the location for a nuclear power campus targeting up to 1.2 GW of baseload power. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US Administration is using its assets, including federal land, to add power generation, create jobs, and ensure the country wins the AI race. "By bringing new power online and upgrading our exist...