Corning surges on multiyear optical fiber partnership with Nvidia

6th May 2026 15:02

(Sharecast News) - Corning shares surged on Wednesday after it announced a multiyear commercial and technology partnership with Nvidia to expand US-based manufacturing of the advanced optical connectivity solutions needed to power next-generation AI infrastructure.

As part of the new partnership, for which no financial details were disclosed, Corning will increase its optical connectivity manufacturing capacity tenfold and expand its fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts.

The expansion includes the construction of three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas and the creation of more than 3,000 jobs.

Corning said its expanded capacity will supply the optical connectivity hyperscale data centres use to deploy Nvidia-accelerated computing at scale. It noted that 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".

Nvidia founder and chief executive Jensen Huang said: "AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time - and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains.

"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."

Corning chairman, CEO and president Wendell P. Weeks, said: "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."

At 1455 BST BST, Corning shares were up 14% at $184.76, while Nvidia was up 3.8% at $203.86.