SoftBank, which has struggled to create a financial plan for Stargate, approached Foxconn to get the Apple supplier on board with its plan to build data centers and related infrastructure throughout the U.S., which led to the sale of the plant, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank Group Corp. is the buyer taking ownership of Foxconn Technology Group’s electric vehicle plant in Ohio, a move aimed at kick-starting the Japanese company’s $500 billion Stargate data center project with OpenAI and Oracle Corp.

Foxconn, officially Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer. It assembles Apple Inc.’s iPhones and supplies servers to multiple cloud providers. The company is also active in numerous other markets including the auto sector.