Corning Incorporated announced a multiyear commercial and technology partnership with NVIDIA to dramatically expand U.S.-based manufacturing of the advanced optical connectivity solutions needed to power next-generation AI infrastructure. NVIDIA is a leading maker of chips for AI data centers and is the world’s most valuable company.
Corning plans to increase its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts. The expansion includes the construction of three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas and the creation of more than 3,000 new high-paying American jobs.
Shares in Corning rocketed over 18% on the news Wednesday morning.
Corning’s expanded capacity will supply the optical connectivity hyperscale data centers use to deploy NVIDIA-accelerated computing at scale. Modern AI workloads require thousands of NVIDIA GPUs – requiring unprecedented volumes of high-performance optical fiber, connectivity, and photonics to move data at extraordinary speed and scale. As AI factories grow larger and more numerous, optical connectivity becomes an important component of the AI infrastructure.
Corning, the inventor of low-loss optical fiber and the world’s leading innovator in glass science and optical physics, is well-positioned to meet this demand at scale.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said, “AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time – and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains. Together with Corning, we are inventing the future of computing with advanced optical technologies – building the foundation for AI infrastructure where intelligence moves at the speed of light while advancing the proud tradition of Made in America.”
Wendell Weeks, chairman, CEO, and president of Corning, said, “What NVIDIA is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of artificial intelligence, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce. Their commitment is directly fueling the expansion of our U.S. manufacturing footprint and creating more than 3,000 new high-paying jobs for American workers. This partnership is proof that AI is not just a technology story. It is a manufacturing story, and it is happening here in the United States. Together with NVIDIA, we are ensuring the critical technologies powering AI are invented, engineered, and built in America.”
