Sharp Corp. shares rose sharply after news that it plans to set up a data center in Osaka using Nvidia chips along with Japanese tech start-up Datasection and telecoms firm KDDI.
Shares of electronics maker Sharp were recently 4.2% higher at 1,010.5 yen ($6.43) after having risen as much as 8.0% earlier.
Datasection said Monday in a regulatory filing that the three Japanese companies would set up a joint venture and aim to build what they expect to be one of Asia’s biggest data centers for artificial-intelligence applications at Sharp’s Sakai plant in Osaka.
Sharp had said in May that it would halt the production of display panels at the Sakai plant by the end of September, citing weak demand, and was looking for other business uses for the site.
Datasection said the new data center planned to procure AI servers using Nvidia’s latest chips from Super Micro Computer, and KDDI would help build the network for the data center.
Datasection’s shares were indicted 25% higher at the limit high of Y1,978 as buy orders overwhelmed sell orders, though no shares changed hands so far. KDDI shares were recently up 0.4% at Y4,353.