Corning and Amazon have signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to accelerate optical fiber, cable, and connectivity manufacturing to support Amazon’s expanding data centre infrastructure in the U.S. The multiyear deal is expected to create 1,000 jobs at Corning’s four manufacturing sites across North Carolina, as well as a number of construction jobs.
The two entities will also work together to devise a new strategy to expand Corning’s fiber-optic technician training program with Catawba Valley Community College, which is proximate to its Hickory, North Carolina campus, to prepare students for careers in fiber optics manufacturing and other related technical fields through training and classes.
In January, Corning signed a multiyear $6 billion agreement with Meta Platforms to expand its manufacturing capabilities across its North Carolina facilities. Ground broke on an expansion at its Hickory site in April. According to a press release, Corning’s optical cable factory in Hickory will benefit from “significant capacity expansion,” where Meta will serve as the anchor customer, leveraging its optical fiber, cable, and connectivity products to support Meta’s data centre build-out.
Corning’s North Carolina campus also benefitted from a $500 million agreement with Nvidia that seeks to expand domestic manufacturing of the advanced optical connectivity products needed to power new AI-powered infrastructure, according to a press release.
This agreement will see Corning expand its optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10 times while expanding its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50 percent to meet demand. The plan is to build three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas, creating more than 3,000 jobs.
