Foxconn is working on a new collaboration with OpenAI that could expand their existing partnership on data-centre racks, components and artificial intelligence hardware, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer’s chairman Young Liu said on Friday. The development comes as Foxconn increases its dependence on AI infrastructure while the technology sector faces questions over the sustainability of heavy investment.
Liu told reporters at Foxconn’s annual technology showcase that he had met OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman earlier in the day. He said an announcement would follow once details were confirmed, but did not disclose the scope, value or timeline of the proposed arrangement.
Any new deal would build on an agreement announced last year under which Foxconn and OpenAI were to work together on designing and engineering data-centre racks, components and other AI hardware. The partnership places Foxconn within the physical supply chain behind the expansion of AI services, where computing capacity depends on specialised servers, racks, networking equipment and related manufacturing systems.
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is Nvidia’s biggest AI server maker and has increasingly relied on AI infrastructure for growth. The company operates six factory buildings in Houston, Texas, where it manufactures AI servers for Nvidia. Liu said Foxconn expects to maintain double-digit growth next year and sees a need for further expansion in Houston.
The company’s cloud and networking products segment, which includes AI servers, accounted for 51% of its second-quarter revenue, according to figures cited in the report. It was the first time that the segment had exceeded half of Foxconn’s quarterly revenue, underlining the growing importance of AI-related manufacturing to the company’s business mix.
The comments came as AI-sector stocks have faced pressure from concerns that sustained investment may not be financially viable as borrowing costs rise. Liu rejected the view that the industry was in a bubble, while the company’s revenue mix shows how AI hardware has become central to Foxconn’s expansion strategy.
Foxconn is also testing the use of humanoid robots at its Houston facilities. Brand Cheng, chairman of Foxconn Industrial Internet, said more than 10 humanoid robots had been deployed at the company’s Texas facilities for internal use. The unit plans to extend deployment beyond Texas, he added.
Presentation materials cited in the report showed that Foxconn Industrial Internet introduced two wheeled robot models in October. One is designed to lift objects vertically, while the other can bend at the waist for assembly, loading and unloading tasks. The unit is developing artificial intelligence models for humanoid robots based on Nvidia’s GR00T foundation model.
The proposed OpenAI collaboration and the robot deployment point to two connected changes in industrial infrastructure: rising demand for facilities that can manufacture and support AI computing equipment, and the introduction of AI-enabled machines into those facilities. Foxconn has not yet announced the final terms or implementation details of the new tie-up. Liu said the company would provide more information once the details were confirmed.
