Chip giant Nvidia is partnering with Corning, a manufacturer of connectivity equipment used in data centers, to create U.S. facilities where Corning can produce its transmission materials.
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The partnership plans to build three new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas, the companies announced Wednesday.
The new facilities would allow Corning to multiply its U.S.-based manufacturing capacity of optical connectivity equipment by 10 and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50%.
The companies didn't disclose the size of the planned developments or where they would be located in those states. But they said the three facilities would create more than 3,000 “high-paying jobs.”
In the release, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said artificial intelligence is creating a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate American manufacturing and supply chains.”
“What NVIDIA is doing is nothing short of extraordinary, not just for the future of artificial intelligence, but for the American advanced manufacturing workforce,” Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said. “This partnership is proof that AI is not just a technology story. It is a manufacturing story, and it is happening here in the United States.”
In January, Corning reached a deal with Meta, worth up to $6B, to supply the tech giant's North Carolina data centers with its connectivity technology. The supply deal came after Corning announced in October it planned to expand its plant in Hickory, North Carolina, with an investment of between $170M and $268M.
Corning's stock price surged after Wednesday's announcement, up more than 13% as of 1:20 p.m. ET, and Nvidia's was up 4%.
Nvidia, the world's largest company by market cap at $4.97T, supplies the majority of the world's data center chips. Over the past year, it has been dipping into other segments of the AI and data center infrastructure world through partnerships.
The company this week partnered with PulteGroup and a San Francisco-based startup on a strategy to install small data center “nodes” on commercial and residential properties.
In January, Nvidia announced a partnership with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to build an AI-powered laboratory in South San Francisco, with plans to spend $1B on infrastructure and talent over five years.
And in September, the company announced it was making a $100B equity infusion into OpenAI to support its plan to build out facilities for at least 10 gigawatts of AI computing capacity.
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