SoftBank AI Data Centre Battery Plan Targets 1 GWh Annually
Japan’s tech giant is going all in on energy. SoftBank Corp. announced on May 11, 2026, that it will begin large-scale battery manufacturing at its Sakai, Osaka, plant. The goal is direct: power its growing AI data centres with homegrown energy storage.
A New Kind of Battery Factory
SoftBank will partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX Co. to make this happen. Together, they will produce zinc-halogen battery cells, a next-generation rechargeable technology. Mass production starts in 2029, with initial production targeted for March 2028. The Osaka plant will also house a large-scale AI data centre and an AI hardware manufacturing facility.
The SoftBank AI data centre battery plan targets one gigawatt-hour of energy storage per year. According to the report that would make it one of Japan’s largest battery facilities. SoftBank could eventually scale to several GWh of annual capacity, as it did last month. The company sets up two business units to support this: AX Factory, for AI data centre operations and hardware, and GX Factory, for next-generation batteries and solar panels.
Beyond Data Centres
SoftBank does not plan to stop at AI. It will also supply batteries to power grids, factories, and residential users across Japan. In the medium term, it plans to expand into global markets, according to Data Centre Dynamics. Meanwhile, SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure globally. This battery business is its boldest self-sufficiency move yet.
