Foxconn is making another major commitment to its Wisconsin operations, announcing a $569 million expansion at its Mount Pleasant campus to support fast-growing demand for data servers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer — known globally as Hon Hai Technology Group and a key supplier of Apple components — said the investment will generate 1,374 new jobs over the next four years as the company broadens its U.S. production capabilities.
The announcement arrives less than a week after Foxconn revealed a new collaboration with OpenAI focused on developing advanced AI hardware for the U.S. market. Together, the two initiatives signal Foxconn’s renewed push to strengthen its domestic footprint and respond to the accelerating shift toward AI-driven computing.
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Foxconn’s Mount Pleasant site has undergone multiple contract changes since the company first unveiled plans for a massive U.S. manufacturing hub in 2017. At the time, the company pledged a $10 billion investment and 13,000 jobs — a promise that later downsized dramatically as Foxconn reevaluated its strategy and changed the type of products it planned to build in Wisconsin.
The facility, which opened in May 2021, remained largely idle in its early years. Foxconn renegotiated its agreement with the state down to a $672 million investment and a commitment of 1,454 jobs. Subsequent regional developments — including Microsoft’s 2023 purchase of Foxconn-owned land for a large new data center campus — helped revive momentum around the Mount Pleasant tech corridor.
According to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., as of Dec. 31, 2024, Foxconn had invested nearly $717 million in the Mount Pleasant campus and created 1,242 jobs, making it eligible for $62.9 million in state tax credits.
Now, with rapidly climbing demand for AI servers, cloud infrastructure, and high-performance computing components, Foxconn is once again scaling up.
The newly announced $569 million investment will allow Foxconn to expand its AI server production, strengthen its supply chain, and increase capacity for U.S. customers. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has amended its contract with Foxconn again, offering up to $16 million in additional performance-based tax incentives.
Under the revised agreement, Foxconn commits to creating 2,616 jobs and investing a total of $1.2 billion through the end of 2029.
The company stated earlier this year that it expects strong growth in AI-related data server demand over the next two years. During the second quarter earnings call in August, Kathy Yang, rotating CEO at Hon Hai Technology Group, said Foxconn is expanding in multiple regions to meet customer needs. “We are continuing to expand in these locations, including adding AI server liquid-cooling testing capacity,” Yang said. “In addition, in California and at our Ohio campus, we will be adding capacity for cloud and networking products. Through these efforts, we aim to fully satisfy our customers’ growing demand.”
Foxconn’s latest move aligns closely with its newly announced collaboration with OpenAI. The partnership will focus on the design and U.S. manufacturing readiness of next-generation AI infrastructure hardware, including power, cooling, networking systems, cabling and other data center components.
OpenAI will share insights on emerging hardware needs in the AI industry, while Foxconn will design and develop components tailored to those specifications. The agreement bolsters Foxconn’s role in domestic AI supply chain development — something policymakers and tech firms have increasingly prioritized.
While the collaboration does not include specific purchasing commitments, OpenAI will have early access to evaluate the new systems with the option to buy them later.
Jerry Hsiao, Foxconn’s chief product officer and general manager of Hon Hai USA, highlighted the significance of the investment and collaboration, saying: “As the demand for more data infrastructure continues to rise, Foxconn will keep responding to our customers’ needs with flexibility and at scale in the United States.”
With new investments, expanding contracts, and increased federal interest in domestic manufacturing, Wisconsin’s technology corridor is emerging as a competitive location for AI infrastructure development. Foxconn’s expansion adds to a growing cluster of data center and semiconductor activity in the region — including Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar data center build, which began in 2023 and has since grown to more than $7 billion.
The Mount Pleasant site, once considered a stalled project, is transforming into a key part of Foxconn’s North American operations. With rising demand for AI-enabled hardware, the company’s Wisconsin campus is poised to play a pivotal role in supporting the next generation of data infrastructure.
Originally reported by Sara Samora in Manufacturing Dive.
