Corning stock surges 20% on Nvidia deal to expand AI optical manufacturing

Shares of Corning surged about 20% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company announced a multiyear partnership with Nvidia to expand optical manufacturing capacity in the United States.

The collaboration will focus on developing advanced optical technologies for artificial intelligence infrastructure, including the construction of three new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas.

Nvidia shares also rose nearly 3% following the announcement.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Expansion to support AI demand

As part of the deal, Corning plans to increase its US-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity tenfold, while expanding domestic fiber production capacity by more than 50%.

The new facilities are expected to create at least 3,000 jobs and significantly boost the company’s optical manufacturing footprint, positioning it to meet growing demand from data center operators and technology firms investing in AI infrastructure.

“AI is driving the largest infrastructure buildout of our time and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains,” said Jensen Huang.

“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.”

Optics emerge as next frontier

The partnership underscores a broader shift in the AI ecosystem toward optical connectivity solutions, which are increasingly viewed as critical for handling the massive data flows required by next-generation AI systems.

While specific details of the collaboration were not disclosed, industry observers expect Nvidia to integrate Corning’s optical fiber technologies into its rack-scale systems, potentially replacing traditional copper-based connections with optical links through a process known as co-packaged optics.

At its GTC conference in 2025, Huang highlighted co-packaged optics as essential for scaling AI infrastructure efficiently, citing its potential to increase data transfer speeds while reducing energy consumption.

Corning Chief Executive Wendell Weeks described the partnership as a significant step not only for AI development but also for US manufacturing.

“What Nvidia is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of AI, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce,” he said.

Riding the AI infrastructure wave

The agreement comes amid a surge in investment in AI infrastructure following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, which triggered a wave of spending on data centers, processors and networking systems.

Corning has emerged as a key beneficiary of this trend, with its stock rising more than 250% over the past year.

The company has been expanding its optical communications business, which supplies fiber cables used to connect servers in large-scale data centers.

Earlier this year, Meta committed up to $6 billion to support Corning’s optical cable expansion in North Carolina, further reinforcing demand for its products.

Meanwhile, Nvidia has solidified its leadership in the AI market, with its graphics processing units playing a central role in training and deploying large language models for companies such as Alphabet and Meta.

While Nvidia’s stock has delivered outsized gains over the past five years, investor interest has recently broadened to include other AI infrastructure players, including Intel and Micron Technology.

With optical technologies poised to become a critical component of next-generation computing systems, the Corning-Nvidia partnership signals the next phase of the AI buildout, where speed, efficiency and scale will define competitive advantage.

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