major technology companies Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and fiber optic companies. corning company (NYSE:GLW) today announced plans to build three manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas, creating more than 3,000 jobs.
The latest announcement regarding the addition of an artificial intelligence factory will enable Corning to expand its U.S. optical connectivity tenfold and increase U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50%.
The joint announcement did not specify where in the two states the factories would be built.
Nvidia is the largest company in the United States by market capitalization, valued at more than $5 trillion. Shares were up about 5.8%, or $11.15, as of midday Wednesday. Corning stock soared more than 14%. Corning stock has risen more than 300% over the past 52 weeks.
Corning’s expanded capacity provides the optical connectivity that hyperscale data centers use to deploy NVIDIA-accelerated computing at scale. Modern AI workloads require thousands of NVIDIA GPUs, and moving data at extraordinary speed and scale requires unprecedented amounts of high-performance fiber optics, connectivity, and photonics. As AI factories grow larger and more numerous, optical connectivity will become a critical component of the AI infrastructure.
Corning is the inventor of low-loss optical fiber and a leading innovator in glass science and optical physics.
“AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time and represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate America’s manufacturing and supply chains,” NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said in the release. “Together with Corning, we are inventing the future of computing with advanced optical technology and advancing our proud Made in America heritage while building the foundation for an AI infrastructure where intelligence moves at the speed of light.”
“What NVIDIA is doing is extraordinary, not only for the future of artificial intelligence but also for America’s advanced manufacturing workforce,” Corning CEO Wendell P. Weeks said in a release. “Their efforts are directly driving the expansion of the U.S. manufacturing footprint and creating more than 3,000 new, high-paying jobs for American workers. This partnership proves that AI is more than just a technology story. It’s a manufacturing story, and it’s happening right here in the United States. We’re working with NVIDIA to ensure that the critical technologies that power AI are invented, designed, and built in the United States.”
In March, Corning and Facebook’s parent company meta platform (Nasdaq: META) has begun construction on a $267 million expansion of Corning’s optical cable manufacturing capacity in Hickory as part of a $6 billion deal the two companies announced in January. The expansion will add 132 jobs and help accelerate Facebook’s advanced data centers in the U.S. to support its parent company’s app, technology and AI goals.
Corning currently employs more than 5,000 people in North Carolina and plans to expand manufacturing capacity across the state in support of the Meta agreement. The expansion could increase Corning’s employment levels in the state by 15-20%, bringing the number of employees in the state closer to 6,000.
In addition to Hickory, Corning also has textile manufacturing facilities in the Catawba County towns of Newton, Wilmington, Winston-Salem and Concord. Hikari Tsushin’s headquarters are located in Charlotte.
