Nvidia invests $500M in Corning to expand optical fiber production for AI infrastructure buildout

Nvidia invests $300 million in Corning to build three new US-based optical fiber plants -- AI infrastructure deal would boost fiber production capacity by over 50%

When you have a dominant position in an industry, you should think not only about the competitiveness of your product, but also about eliminating bottlenecks in the sector to ensure smooth deployment of your hardware. This is exactly what Nvidia is doing by investing $300 million in Corning, enabling it to build three additional manufacturing facilities in the U.S. to produce optical fiber used to build AI data centers. As an added bonus, Nvidia will assume control of a significant part of American fiber production. The long-term agreement will see the construction of three new facilities in North Carolina and Texas to produce optical fiber, which will be supplied to builders of hyperscale data centers that deploy Nvidia AI hardware. As a result, Corning will increase its U.S. optical connectivity manufacturing output by a factor of 10 and expand domestic fiber production capacity by over 50%. The plants are expected to employ 3,000 people. Modern AI workloads require hundreds of thousands of AI accelerators working in concert and moving data at unprecedented scale. The only way to meet bandwidth and latency requirements for such deployments is to use optical fiber and photonics hardware for connectivity. As a result, the role of optical networking for AI data centers is hard to overestimate, and the skyrocketing demand for optical fiber at scale is easy to predict. Corning is known for its expertise in glass science and optical physics and as the world's largest maker of optical cables with a 10.4% market share. With those credentials, the company is a good partner to fulfill that demand, so Nvidia's decision to team up with it is not surprising. Meanwhile, the press release by the two companies clearly states that the new plants will supply the optical connectivity hyperscale data centers use to deploy Nvidia-accelerated computing at scale,' so instead of helping the whole industry to get optical fiber, the company only helps the part of the industry that relies on its own hardware. "AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time -- and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia. "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." By investing in Corning, Nvidia not only ensures its partners will have enough optical fiber, but also gains control over a significant chunk of U.S. optical fiber production capacity, which is a good way to ensure the company's dominance in the American AI sector going forward. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Corning partners with Nvidia to expand US fiber optic output for AI growth

May 6 (Reuters) - Corning (GLW.N), opens new tab and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday they would partner to expand U.S. production of optical connectivity products used in artificial intelligence data centers. The specialty glass maker also raised its long-term sales targets on surging demand for AI infrastructure. Its shares rose more than 19% in early trading. The deal shows how the AI boom is ⁠lifting demand beyond chips, benefiting suppliers such as Corning that make the fiber-optic equipment needed to move data between thousands of processors in large data centers. Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Nvidia, Corning partner on massive optical fiber deal that may be a game changer for AI

Corning and Nvidia team up to expand fiber optic production in the U.S. for AI Nvidia, the chipmaker at the center of the artificial intelligence boom, is partnering with glassmaker Corning for three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas dedicated entirely to optical technologies for the world's most valuable semiconductor company. The factories will lead to the creation of at least 3,000 jobs and increase Corning's U.S. optical manufacturing capacity by 10-fold, the companies said in a joint press release on Wednesday. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The multiyear deal brings together two infrastructure players that have seen their fortunes skyrocket since the launch in 2022 of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which sparked an explosion of investments into new processors and systems for powering cutting-edge AI models and workloads. While the two companies didn't provide specifics about what's being developed, Nvidia is likely gearing up to replace copper with Corning's optical glass fibers in its AI rack-scale systems, an integration known as co-packaged optics. At Nvidia's GTC conference in 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called co-packaged optics essential for the AI buildout. "What Nvidia is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of AI, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce," Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said in a press release. Corning's stock is up over 250% in the past year as of Tuesday's close, driven by the 175-year-old company's rapid pivot into the new economy. In January, Meta announced it would spend up to $6 billion as the flagship customer helping Corning build out its optical cable plant in Hickory, North Carolina, an expansion that's expected to create around 1,000 jobs.

Nvidia-Corning deal: $500M of warrants, three new US plants, and 3,000 jobs

The deal pairs a 15-million-share warrant at $180 with a pre-funded warrant for 3 million more, against a Corning commitment to build three new US optical-connectivity plants and grow capacity tenfold. Corning shares closed up roughly 14 per cent. NVIDIA is taking an equity-linked stake of $500m in fibre-optics manufacturer Corning as part of a multi-year partnership designed to scale US optical-connectivity production tenfold. Corning's 8-K filing on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the structure: Nvidia receives a Traditional Warrant for up to 15 million Corning shares at $180.00 per share, alongside a Pre-Funded Warrant for up to 3 million more at a nominal $0.0001 per share. Aggregate proceeds to Corning total approximately $500m. Corning shares closed up roughly 14 per cent on the announcement. These are warrants, not subscription rights. The Traditional Warrant is exercisable at $180 against Corning's pre-announcement share price in the mid-$150s, putting Nvidia in the money on roughly 15 per cent of the upside if Corning's share-price reaction holds. Both warrants are exercisable from issuance, with three-year expiry subject to earlier termination on certain corporate or partnership events. The substantive part of the announcement is the manufacturing commitment behind the warrants. Corning has agreed to expand US optical-connectivity manufacturing capacity tenfold, build three new plants in North Carolina and Texas, and create more than 3,000 high-paying jobs over the multi-year partnership period. The deal extends a pattern Nvidia established in March, when the company invested $4bn across Coherent and Lumentum, the two principal laser-component suppliers for its Spectrum-X co-packaged optics platform. "AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. " 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." NVIDIA announced the Spectrum-X Photonics architecture at GTC 2025, positioning co-packaged optics as the route to scaling AI factories beyond the bandwidth limits of conventional copper interconnects between racks. The Coherent-Lumentum investments as supply-side commitments rather than financial bets, with capacity rights and multi-billion-dollar purchase commitments attached to each. Corning is the third leg of that strategy. The company manufactures the optical glass fibre that the laser components produced by Coherent and Lumentum push light through. Without scaling fibre production at the US domestic capacity, the rest of the supply chain will experience bottlenecks. The warrant structure gives Nvidia a financial stake in the upside of Corning's expansion alongside the supply commitment, which is a more aggressive form of supplier alignment than a pure offtake agreement. What it tells you about the wider AI build-out is that the supply-chain consolidation is now happening at every layer simultaneously. The Nvidia-Corning warrant arrangement is the optical-connectivity component of the same trade. The two unresolved items on the public record are which Nvidia products the new Corning capacity will specifically supply, and at what timeline. The warrant structure suggests both companies expect the partnership to produce material revenue within the three-year warrant window. The 8-K does not commit to specific volume or product-line allocation. The next earnings cycle will be the first checkpoint.

Nvidia partners with Corning to boost the supply of optical network components - SiliconANGLE

Nvidia partners with Corning to boost the supply of optical network components Nvidia Corp. will help publicly traded glass maker Corning Inc. boost the rate at which it produces parts for optical data center networks. The partnership, which the companies announced today, will see Corning build three new factories in North Carolina and Texas. The facilities will boost the manufacturer's optical hardware production capacity in the U.S. by a factor of 10. They will also create more new 3,000 jobs. Separately, Nvidia has reportedly received warrants to purchase up to 18 million Corning shares. A warrant is a contract that enables an investor to buy stock at a predetermined price. The 18 million shares covered by Nvidia's warrants are worth more than $3.2 billion. The companies didn't specify exactly what products Corning will make at the new plants. One likely candidate is its portfolio of server-grade fiber optic cables. Corning cables can be found in many artificial intelligence clusters, which is the reason the company has caught Nvidia's attention. Glass manufacturers optimize their server-grade fiber optic cables for not only speed and reliability but also ease of installation. The reason is that a data center requires upwards of thousands of miles of fiber optic wiring, which means that cable deployment can be highly time-consuming. Speeding up the process accelerates data center construction and maintenance. Many of Corning's fiber optic cables are based on a design it calls Flow Ribbon Technology. The technology includes several optimizations that are specifically designed to speed up installation. Fiber optic cables are often installed in flexible tubes called microducts, which are themselves placed in tubes. Cables based on Corning's Flow Ribbon Technology can be placed into microducts using jets of compressed air. According to the company, that approach is significantly faster than manual installation. Data center operators often splice, or link together, different servers' fiber optic cables to speed up the flow of traffic. Before two cables can be linked, technicians have to peel back their outer layer to expose the glass strands inside. Corning's Flow Ribbon Technology makes it possible to peel cables without using sharp tools, which both speeds up the process and boosts worker safety. The company also sells a second line of data center cables called the MMC series. It can be used with co-packaged optics, or CPO, devices. Those are data center switches with a built-in transceiver, a chip that turns light beams into electrical signals and vice versa. Transceivers were historically implemented as a standalone device. Nvidia entered the CPO market last March with a line of switches optimized for AI clusters. Earlier this year, it invested $4 billion in two companies that supply optical components for CPO devices. Corning sells its fiber optic cables alongside several auxiliary devices. The company makes so-called EDS, or edge distribution systems, that reduce the amount of work involved in organizing server cables. It also sells observability devices that data center operators can use to monitor network health. Corning's shares jumped more than 12% on the news of that it's partnership with Nvidia. The reason is that the collaboration will boost one of the company's most important revenue growth drivers. Corning's optical communications business grew 36% last quarter on a year-over-year basis, nearly twice as fast as its overall sales. The company's other revenue sources span a wide range of verticals. Corning makes the Gorilla Glass that Apple Inc. uses to build iPhone displays. It also sells pharmaceutical vials, car parts and optical components for space telescopes. Corning produced the James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared light sensor and parts of its lens pointing module.

Corning partners with Nvidia to expand US fiber optic output for AI growth

Corning and Nvidia are partnering to significantly boost U.S. production of optical connectivity products for AI data centers. This collaboration will tenfold Corning's optical connectivity manufacturing capacity and expand domestic fiber production by over 50%, creating thousands of jobs. Corning and Nvidia said on Wednesday they would partner to expand U.S. production of optical connectivity products used in artificial intelligence data centers. The specialty glass maker also raised its long-term sales targets on surging demand for AI ⁠infrastructure. ⁠Its shares rose more than 17% in premarket trading. The deal shows how the AI boom is lifting demand beyond chips, benefiting suppliers such as Corning that make the fiber-optic equipment needed to move data between thousands of processors in large data ⁠centers. The specialty glass and fiber-optics maker said it would increase U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing ⁠capacity tenfold and expand domestic fiber production capacity by more than 50%. The expansion, expected to create more than 3,000 jobs, includes three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas. For Corning, the partnership strengthens one of its fastest-growing businesses at a time when weaker demand in non-optical segments, including specialty glass for consumer electronics, has weighed on its outlook. ⁠Separately, Corning said it expects to reach a $20 billion annualized sales run rate by the end of this year. The company now aims for a $30 billion annualized run rate by the end of 2028 under its internal plan, and $40 billion by the end of 2030.

Nvidia Just Made A 175-Year-Old Glass Stock Look Like An AI Rocket - Corning (NYSE:GLW), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:N

The rally pushed Corning's year-to-date gains past 80%, turning one of the market's oldest industrial names into an unlikely AI momentum trade. Nvidia's New AI Bottleneck Under the deal, Corning will expand its U.S. optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and boost domestic fiber production by more than 50% to support hyperscale AI data center demand driven by Nvidia-powered systems. The company also plans to build three new manufacturing facilities across North Carolina and Texas while creating more than 3,000 jobs. The partnership highlights a growing reality inside the AI boom: GPUs alone are no longer enough. Modern AI factories require enormous volumes of optical fiber and photonics infrastructure to move data between thousands of chips at extreme speeds. As AI clusters grow larger, bandwidth is increasingly becoming its own infrastructure bottleneck. That is where Corning suddenly matters a lot more. From Glassmaker To AI Trade Founded in 1851, Corning built its reputation on glass science and optical physics long before artificial intelligence existed. But Nvidia's endorsement may have just repositioned the company as a second-order AI infrastructure winner. Technically, traders appear to be treating it that way already. Chart created using Benzinga Pro The stock blasted to fresh highs following the announcement, decisively clearing prior resistance levels while remaining firmly above its 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages -- a setup many momentum traders associate with breakout conditions. With this latest surge, GLW stock holders have gained over 162% in the past year. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called AI "the largest infrastructure buildout of our time," while Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said the partnership proves AI is becoming "a manufacturing story." The market reaction suggests investors are starting to believe that too. Photo: Golden Dayz / Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Nvidia and Corning bolster optical capabilities for Artificial Intelligence

Nvidia and Corning have announced a strategic partnership aimed at developing optical infrastructure for artificial intelligence in the United States. Three new advanced manufacturing facilities will be opened in North Carolina and Texas to meet the growing requirements of the semiconductor specialist. The project is expected to create at least 3,000 jobs and increase Corning's domestic optical production capacity tenfold. As part of the agreement, Nvidia may invest up to $3.2bn in the group through various financial instruments.

Nvidia, Corning Form Partnership to Expand Fiber Optic Manufacturing

Nvidia has formed a partnership with Corning to expand manufacturing of fiber optics for AI infrastructure. As part of the partnership, Corning will boost its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by ten times and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50%. That includes the construction of three new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas. Corning has seen surging profit as the rapid data-center build out has accelerated demand for its fiber optics, which are used in AI data centers to transfer data quickly and at scale. Corning's stock rose 14% to $185.59 in premarket trading. Nvidia is up 2.7% at $201.73 premarket. Write to Nicholas G. Miller at [email protected].