Leading technology company NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and fiber optic company Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) announced plans today to build three manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas, creating more than 3,000 jobs.
The latest announcement in the expansion of artificial intelligence factory buildouts will allow Corning to expand U.S. optical connectivity tenfold, and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50%.
The joint announcement did not say where the plants would be built in either state.
Nvidia is the largest U.S. company by market capitalization, with a value of more than $5 trillion. Shares midday Wednesday were up about 5.8% or $11.15. Corning shares soared more than 14%. Corning shares are up more than 300% in the last 52 weeks.
Corning’s expanded capacity will supply the optical connectivity that 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 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 a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains,” said Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, in a release. “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.”
“What NVIDIA is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of artificial intelligence, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce,” said Corning CEO Wendell P. Weeks in a release. “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.”
In March, Corning and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) started construction on a $267 million expansion of Corning’s optical cable manufacturing capacity in Hickory, part of a $6 billion agreement the two companies announced in January. The expansion will add 132 jobs and support the acceleration of advanced data centers in the U.S. to support Facebook’s parent company’s apps, technologies and AI objectives.
Corning currently employs more than 5,000 people in North Carolina and will expand manufacturing capabilities across the state to support its agreement with Meta. The expansion could increase Corning’s employment levels in the state by 15% to 20%, and move its workforce in the state closer to 6,000.
Besides Hickory, Corning has fiber manufacturing facilities in the Catawba County town of Newton, Wilmington, Winston-Salem and Concord. The headquarters of its optical communications is in Charlotte.
