In August 2018, Foxconn Technology (Hon Hai Precision Industry Group) of Taiwan pledged $100 million in funding to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for an engineering building and for associated research support.  The university received $700,000 in that year, but no further funding has been advanced as promised in the five-year agreement.

Foxconn has undergone changes in senior management and has obviously been impacted by COVID-19.  The University of Wisconsin understandably has to adopt a diplomatic approach to Foxconn, exemplified by a statement by a university spokesperson, “although Foxconn is in the best position to explain its plans, the university understands the changes in the firm’s executive leadership, business goals, and impact of the pandemic have resulted in shifting priorities.”

The much-heralded intentions to establish a major manufacturing facility in Wisconsin have not materialized despite a contentious $3 billion tax incentive offered by then Governor, Scott Walker in 2017.

The relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Foxconn has developed into a subject of criticism on the Madison campus.