Microsoft’s large-scale cloud computing platform Azure will deploy 3M’s expanded beam optical (EBO) cable connector system at its data centers, while 3M will leverage Microsoft’s AI and digital platforms across its operations to simplify its processes and improve decision-making, customer experience, and employee productivity.

Microsoft and 3M are also part of an alliance of 44 members focused on advancing an open, interoperable specification for EBO connectivity products in the AI end-market called Expanded Beam Optics Multi-Source Agreement Group. 3M is investing heavily in expanding its EBO manufacturing capacity.

“[The EBO is] sort of like an easy click between two pieces of multi-fiber device [peripherals] that come together,” 3M CEO Bill Brown said during a first quarter earnings call in April. “We can put that together in 80 percent less time with a less trained technician; better reliability, can operate in a dusty environment, which is why it’s gotten some good take rate. We’ve had at least a validation by at least one hyperscaler, a second one is in testing. I expect that will be positive as well.”

The goal of the partnership is to accelerate AI adoption and improve the physical networks required for its operation, including fiber-optic and coaxial cables that support cloud and AI workloads.

The partnership will continue to grow through collaboration and R&D and comes at a critical time as Microsoft is expanding its global data centre footprint. It currently operates over 400 data centres around the world.

“At Microsoft, we’re redefining the foundation of cloud and AI infrastructure—combining our own innovations with advances from partners like 3M to build datacenters that are faster to deploy, more resilient and ready for the scale of AI,” Cliff Henson, Corporate Vice President of Cloud Supply Chain and Engineering at Microsoft, said in a statement.

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The campus is expected to create more than 600 jobs once it is fully operational, which Lite-On expects to take place around 2030. It is strategically located near Interstate 75 and Highway 380, as well as the Port of Shreveport, Dallas Love Field Airport, and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The site will allow Lite-On to receive electronic subassemblies, power conversion components, printed circuit assemblies, enclosures, thermal management materials, and firmware-integrated systems from its global manufacturing network and suppliers thanks to its proximity and connectivity.

The investment includes $108.5 million to acquire two existing buildings in the Core5 Logistics Center, a new industrial park in McKinney. The buildings, which span more than 650,000 square feet combined, were completed in early 2023 and will serve as the location of final assembly, testing, quality, and packaging, as well as the North American headquarters of its U.S. subsidiary, Lite-On Inc.

“As AI infrastructure development and the global energy transition continue to reshape industries, this investment will further strengthen LITEON’s global competitiveness and support the company’s long-term growth,” Chairman Tom Soong said in a statement.

According to the McKinney Economic Development Corporation’s press release, Texas state officials have awarded Lite-On a $3.5 million grant under its performance incentive, the Texas Enterprise Fund, and $100,000 under its military veteran hiring incentive.

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With this investment, TSMC’s total commitment to the U.S. is $265 billion, which caused second-quarter net profits to jump 77 percent from $12.4 billion to $22 billion year over year.

Strong demand for TSMC’s chips, which are regarded for their quality, has helped to make it Asia’s most valuable company. Its share price has grown by more than 55 percent this year, giving it a stock market valuation of around $2 trillion.

“We believe this investment will help to further foster the development of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem, strengthen the supply chain, and support an increasing number of high-tech, high-paying jobs in the United States,” TSMC President and CEO Che-Chia Wei said.

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