【About the Ishikari Data Center Consortium】

　 The Ishikari DCC is a platform led by Ishikari City, Hokkaido, in which DC operators, power and telecommunications infrastructure operators, and others based in the city participate. It positions regional DCs as both a "regional computing resource" and "social infrastructure," aiming for sustainable growth achieved jointly by DCs and the local community.Leveraging its strengths — a concentration of renewable energy power sources, low disaster risk, and access to a labor supply adjacent to the Sapporo metropolitan area — Ishikari City is aiming to become a domestic DC hub ranking after the Greater Tokyo and Kansai areas. The consortium's activities are centered on three pillars: (1) strengthening and establishing shared infrastructure, (2) enhancing the value of DCs within the city, and (3) collaboration with Ishikari City (building disaster-preparedness systems, human resource development, and job creation).Additionally, on September 11, 2026, Ishikari City was certified by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a "Data Center Concentration Area" under the "GX Strategic Areas (1st round)"^（※1）program, and was selected as a region to form a gigawatt (GW)-class data center cluster. (1st round certification; joint application with Hokkaido)

Source：Ishikari City News Release（PDF）

（※1）GX Strategic Areas refers to areas certified under a program established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in August 2025 to create new industrial clusters centered on decarbonized power sources and industrial complexes, among others. Certified areas receive support measures such as backing for capital investment, advance development of power grids, and regulatory and institutional reform.（Source：Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry News Release）

【Background to Joining the Consortium】

　In recent years, with the rapid spread of generative AI, demand for the computing resources that support the training of large language models (LLMs) and the development of multimodal AI has been expanding. At the same time, because large-scale AI computing infrastructure requires vast amounts of electricity, securing a sustainable operating environment — including business continuity (BCP) and collaboration with local communities, in addition to securing electricity and land — has become an important challenge in DC development.
　The Ishikari Bay New Port Area in Ishikari City, Hokkaido, has a concentration of renewable energy power sources and offers an environment well suited to the expansion of AI computing infrastructure from the perspectives of stable power supply, business continuity, and collaboration with the local community.In addition, the framework of the Ishikari DCC — in which DC operators, infrastructure operators, and local governments work jointly on challenges related to electricity, land, and institutional systems that are difficult for a single company to resolve alone — has great significance in expanding GPU infrastructure quickly and sustainably.GMO Internet has decided to join the Ishikari DCC as an initiative that contributes to the expansion of domestic AI computing infrastructure, not merely to meet its own demand for computing resources.

【Overview of Participation in the Ishikari DCC】

　As a participating company in the Ishikari DCC, GMO Internet will promote the following initiatives.

①Development of a new site for computing resource expansion in the Ishikari Bay New Port Area
　GMO Internet has decided to develop a new site in the Ishikari Bay New Port Area for the expansion of computing resources for "GMO GPU Cloud."Leveraging the framework of the Ishikari DCC, the company will proceed with efforts toward developing the new site, including securing electricity and telecommunications infrastructure, in collaboration with fellow participating companies and the local community.

②Joint strengthening of regional infrastructure
　GMO Internet will participate in discussions on jointly strengthening the infrastructure necessary for DC operations, such as electricity and telecommunications, and will cooperate in making proposals to the national government and Hokkaido regarding the design of systems such as the utilization of GX Strategic Areas and special zone systems, as well as subsidy programs.

③Collaboration with the local community
　Under the philosophy of the Ishikari DCC, which positions the DC industry as both a "regional computing resource" and "social infrastructure," GMO Internet will participate in activities that contribute to creating employment opportunities, developing human resources, and revitalizing the local economy.

【Comment from Ishikari City Mayor Tatsuyuki Kato】

　We are very pleased that GMO Internet, Inc. has decided to join the "Ishikari Data Center Consortium."
　The Ishikari Bay New Port Area has strengths including a concentration of renewable energy power sources, low disaster risk, and a high labor supply capacity adjacent to the Sapporo metropolitan area, and our city has been working to establish this area as a domestic data center hub ranking after the Greater Tokyo and Kansai areas. We see the participation of GMO Internet, which provides cutting-edge computing infrastructure supporting Japan's AI development through "GMO GPU Cloud," as a major step forward for this vision. As demand for AI rapidly increases, we hope that the company will apply the technological capabilities and expertise it has accumulated to this consortium, and also lend its support to regional collaboration efforts such as engineer development and job creation.

【Future Outlook】

　 In an era in which AI is becoming the foundation of society and industry, the domestic development of high-performance GPU infrastructure has become a critical issue that will determine Japan's competitiveness in AI. Under its AI infrastructure strategy centered on "GMO GPU Cloud," GMO Internet will, through its participation in the Ishikari DCC, advance collaboration with the local community and the use of renewable energy, while supporting Japan's domestic AI computing infrastructure as a domestically produced sovereign cloud infrastructure and contributing to the development of Japan's AI industry.

【About GMO GPU Cloud】 （URL：https://gpucloud.gmo/）

　"GMO GPU Cloud" is equipped with NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs and implements the domestically first high-speed network, NVIDIA Spectrum-X, along with high-speed storage.In December 2025, the service began offering a cloud service using "NVIDIA HGX B300," equipped with NVIDIA's next-generation GPU "NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPU" ^（※2）, realizing a high-performance environment that supports cutting-edge AI workloads. In the "TOP500" world supercomputer performance ranking^（※3）announced in November 2024, the service ranked 37th in the world and 6th domestically, providing one of the fastest computing infrastructures in Japan as a commercial cloud service. Furthermore, in the "ClusterMAX™2.0"^（※4）international GPU cloud evaluation report covering more than 200 companies worldwide by SemiAnalysis, a US-based firm, the service became the first domestic GPU cloud provider to receive a "Silver" rating, internationally certifying it as an AI computing infrastructure of the highest domestic standard in both performance and reliability.

【About GMO Internet, Inc.】

　GMO Internet, Inc. is a comprehensive internet company that operates an internet infrastructure business, including domains, cloud and rental servers, and internet connectivity, as well as an internet advertising and media business. Under the corporate catchphrase "Internet for Everyone," GMO Internet, as a company supporting social infrastructure, is committed to realizing a safe and secure internet society and to creating new value that shapes the future with AI, delivering "smiles" and "excitement" to everyone involved.