GoKawiilNvidia, the chipmaker at the center of the artificial intelligence boom, is partnering with glassmaker Corning for three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas dedicated entirely to optical technologies for the world's most valuable semiconductor company.
The factories will lead to the creation of at least 3,000 jobs and increase Corning's U.S. optical manufacturing capacity by 10-fold, the companies said in a joint press release on Wednesday.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. Corning shares soared 14% on the news. Nvidia stock gained nearly 3%.
The multiyear deal brings together two infrastructure players that have seen their fortunes skyrocket since the launch in 2022 of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which sparked an explosion of investments into new processors and systems for powering cutting-edge AI models and workloads. While the two companies didn't provide specifics about what's being developed, Nvidia is likely gearing up to replace copper with Corning's optical glass fibers in its AI rack-scale systems, an integration known as co-packaged optics.
At Nvidia's GTC conference in 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called co-packaged optics essential for the AI buildout.
"What Nvidia is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of AI, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce," Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said in a press release.
Corning's stock is up over 250% in the past year as of Tuesday's close, driven by the 175-year-old company's rapid pivot into the new economy. In January, Meta announced it would spend up to $6 billion as the flagship customer helping Corning build out its optical cable plant in Hickory, North Carolina, an expansion that's expected to create around 1,000 jobs.