Lumen Technologies and Google Cloud Forge Strategic Partnership to Enhance AI-Driven Enterprise Networking

Why Lumen Technologies Stock Is Up On Wednesday - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wall Street veteran Chris Capre is going live April 9 at 6 PM ET to reveal a short-term strategy that just returned 195% -- in the middle of a crashing market. Lumen Technologies Inc. LUMN shares are trading higher on Wednesday after announcing a strategic partnership with Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGGOOGL Google Cloud. The collaboration was unveiled at the Next 25 event and is geared toward bolstering cloud and network capabilities in the era of artificial intelligence. The effort aims to accelerate digital transformation as companies adopt AI-powered solutions at scale, per a press release. A cornerstone of this alliance includes integrating Google's newly launched Cloud WAN with Lumen's connectivity services. This integration allows Lumen's Network-as-a-Service platform -- including managed SD-WAN and security features -- to operate within Google Cloud regions, modernizing enterprise networking capabilities. The companies will also enable ultra-fast 400 Gbps direct fiber links between Google Cloud data centers and customer sites. Also Read: Delta Air Lines Wants To Protect Margins And Cash Flow Citing Economic Uncertainty, Does Not Reaffirm FY25 Outlook This move will broaden Google Cloud access across more than 50,000 Lumen-connected locations, significantly increasing network reach and speed. Further, Lumen plans to link its encrypted, high-security network infrastructure to Google Distributed Cloud's air-gapped deployments. This initiative aims to protect sensitive data for clients in heavily regulated sectors like finance, government, and critical infrastructure. "Networks are the foundation of the AI revolution," said Dave Ward, Lumen's chief technology and product officer. He added that the fusion of Lumen's secure network with Google's global infrastructure gives businesses the tools to manage data faster, more securely, and with greater flexibility for AI and cloud applications. According to Benzinga Pro, LUMN stock has gained over 121% in the past year. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Invesco S&P SmallCap Utilities & Communication Services ETF PSCU. LUMN Price Action: Lumen Technologies shares are trading higher by 4.48% to $3.39 at publication Wednesday. Read Next: Here's Where Bridgewater Is Placing Its Bets As Ray Dalio Warns Of 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Breakdown GOOGAlphabet Inc$148.121.05%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum57.85Growth64.56Quality89.96Value49.78Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGLAlphabet Inc$146.090.96%LUMNLumen Technologies Inc$3.384.48%PSCUInvesco S&P SmallCap Utilities & Communication Services ETF$57.0511.8%Got Questions? AskWhich cloud service stocks could benefit from Lumen?How will telecom companies react to this partnership?Which AI-focused firms might see growth from this trend?How could Lumen's move impact cybersecurity companies?Which regulated sectors will seek Lumen's services?Could Lumen's partnership enhance 5G investments?How will this affect network infrastructure stocks?Which ETFs could gain from Lumen's advancements?Are there opportunities in AI-driven startups due to this?How might investors adjust their portfolios post-announcement?Powered By This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Lumen Technologies, Google Cloud Partner To Connect And Power Enterprise Networks In The AI Era

The partnership between the service provider and cloud giant combines Lumen's secure connectivity services and fiber footprint, with Google's own Cloud WAN offerings, as well as its Distributed Cloud and global cloud regions. Service provider giant Lumen Technologies is teaming up with Google to bring new cloud and network connectivity offerings to enterprises in the wake of the AI workload explosion, the two companies announced on Wednesday at Google Next 2025. The partnership between the two companies will combine Lumen's secure connectivity services, including its Network as a Service (NaaS) and managed SD-WAN, with Google's own, brand-new Cloud WAN offering, as well as its Distributed Cloud and global cloud regions. "Our strategic partnership with Google Cloud marks a significant milestone in our journey to deliver transformative cloud and network solutions ... Networks have always been the bedrock of the digital economy, but recent trends are making them more important than ever. AI's dramatic growth requires more network capacity to help move unprecedented amounts of data across diverse geographic locations. This requires networks to be scalable, elastic and reliable," Lumen said in a blog post on the expanded partnership with Google. [Related: AT&T In Talks To Buy Lumen Technologies' Consumer Fiber Unit Amid Lumen's AI Push: Report] Via the new partnership, Google's new Cloud WAN offering, unveiled at Google Next, will have dedicated fiber access in partnership with Lumen in select locations in 2025 to customer-operated locations such as data centers, branches, warehouses, and airports. Cloud WAN is Google's fully managed, secure enterprise connectivity offering that uses Google's global network. The company said that Google Cloud WAN provides up to 40 percent faster performance compared to the public internet. Cloud WAN gives enterprises high-performance connectivity between geographically dispersed data centers, and it can connect branch and campus environments over the cloud giant's Premium Tier network, according to Google. As a result of this combination, Lumen-managed SD-WAN and security services can now be hosted in Google Cloud regions, Lumen said. "This gives enterprises the ability to leverage Lumen Connectivity Services and the Google Cloud Premium Tier network to spin up virtual [points of presence] POPs on Google, helping increase the speed of deployment for Network-as-a-Service offerings," Lumen wrote in its blog. The service provider is further enabling 400 Gbps direct fiber connections from Google Cloud regions directly to customer locations, extending Lumen's connectivity to more than 50,000 Lumen locations to Google Cloud, the companies said. Lastly, Lumen is connecting its encrypted WAN to Google Distributed Cloud air-gapped deployments. This use case is ideal for large enterprises, financial services and public sector customers who must meet strict data sovereignty and regulatory requirements, the two companies said. This offering is designed to meet the U.S. Department of Defense security standards, Lumen said in its blog post. The company formally known as CenturyLink has previously called 2025 the "year of investment" for Lumen as it continues to cement its place as the trusted network for AI. The service provider in 2024 inked $8.5 billion in private connectivity fabric deals with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Meta, as well as Google Cloud, Lumen's CEO Kate Johnson said during the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call in February. Lumen previously revealed that hyperscalers are using Lumen's network to train AI models. In fact, 30 percent of Lumen's network utilization in 2022 was generated by hyperscalers. The plan for that percentage is to grow it to 45 percent, according to the company. "The growth lever of building the backbone for AI represents a huge accretive opportunity for this company. We're not only driving the strongest utilization of our network assets in the history of the company, we have unmatched capacity for growth at exactly the right time," Johnson said in February.