NVIDIA and Corning Announce Long-term Partnership to Increase US Optical Connectivity Capacity by 10 Times
NVIDIA and Corning Incorporated announced today a multi-year business and technology partnership aimed at significantly expanding the manufacturing scale of advanced optical connectivity solutions for next-generation AI infrastructure in the United States.
Corning will increase its US optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10 times and expand its US fiber optic capacity by over 50% to meet the rapidly growing demand brought about by the construction of AI factories. This expansion includes the construction of three advanced manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas, and will create over 3000 new high paying jobs for the United States.
Corning’s expanded production capacity will supply optical connectivity products for large-scale data centers to deploy NVIDIA accelerated computing on a large scale. Modern AI workloads require thousands of NVIDIA GPUs to work together, which requires an unprecedented amount of high-performance fiber optics, connectors, and photonics devices to transmit data at extremely high speeds and scales. With the increasing scale and quantity of AI factories, optical connectivity has become an important component of AI infrastructure.
As the inventor of low loss optical fibers and a leading innovator in glass science and optical physics, Corning has the capability to meet this demand on a large scale.
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said, “AI is driving the largest infrastructure construction of our time, and this is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize American manufacturing and supply chains. We are working hand in hand with Corning to create the future of computing through advanced optical technology, laying the foundation for AI infrastructure, allowing intelligence to flow at the speed of light, while promoting the proud tradition of ‘Made in America.”
Wendell P. Weeks, Chairman, CEO, and President of Corning, said, “What NVIDIA is doing is extraordinary, and it’s not just about the future of artificial intelligence, but also about America’s advanced manufacturing workforce. Their commitment is directly driving us to expand our manufacturing footprint in the United States and bring over 3000 new high paying jobs to American workers. This collaboration proves that AI is not just a technology story, but also a manufacturing story, and this story is unfolding in the United States. Together with NVIDIA, we ensure that the key technologies driving AI are invented, designed, and manufactured in the United States.”
NVIDIA is a global leader in AI and accelerated computing. Corning is one of the leading innovators in the global materials science field, with a 175 year history of life changing inventions. Its business covers multiple markets including optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, displays, automobiles, solar energy, semiconductors, and life sciences.