As part of its push to expand AI capacity, Meta has entered a multi-year agreement with Corning Incorporated worth up to $6 billion. The deal secures high-performance fiber optic cables critical to meeting the connectivity demands of Meta’s next-generation data centers.
Corning says the deal will drive a major U.S. manufacturing expansion, including added capacity at its Trivium Corporate Center in North Carolina and a 15-20 percent increase in state employment, bringing its workforce above 5,000.
In a statement, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, linked the partnership directly to the company’s AI ambitions and economic goals. “Building the most advanced data centers in the US requires world-class partners and American manufacturing,” Kaplan said. “This collaboration will help create good-paying, skilled US jobs, strengthen local economies, and help secure the US lead in the global AI race.”
Fiber optic cables play a central role in modern data centers, providing the high-speed connections needed to run Meta’s products, from its social media platforms and wearable devices like Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses to the heavy computing demands behind personalized superintelligence.
Corning Chairman and CEO Wendell P. Weeks described the agreement as a strategically important long-term partnership. He said the investment would expand the company’s manufacturing presence in North Carolina, support a highly skilled workforce, and, in collaboration with Meta, reinforce domestic supply chains for advanced data center infrastructure.
Meta said it currently has 26 data centers in the United States that are either operational or under construction. According to the company, those projects have supported about 30,000 skilled trade jobs during construction and continue to sustain roughly 5,000 permanent operational roles.
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