GLW
NVDA
The AI boom needs plumbing, not just chips
Nvidia isn’t only selling the flashy brains of AI anymore. It’s also helping build the boring-but-crucial stuff that keeps giant data centers from turning into expensive paperweights: optical connectivity.
Today, Nvidia and Corning announced a multiyear commercial and technology partnership aimed at dramatically expanding U.S.-based manufacturing for the advanced optical connectivity solutions needed in next-gen AI infrastructure. Corning says it will ramp U.S. optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and lift U.S. fiber production by more than 50%.
Why investors should care
This is one of those “less sexy, more important” headlines. AI clusters need mountains of high-speed networking gear, and if that supply chain gets tight, the whole feast slows down. A bigger domestic pipeline for optical components could help smooth bottlenecks and support the next wave of AI data center buildouts.
It also tells you the AI capex machine is still humming. Companies don’t sign up for massive manufacturing expansions unless they believe demand is sticking around — and then some.
Big picture
Nvidia keeps widening its moat, but not just with GPUs. It’s becoming a central character in the entire AI infrastructure stack, from compute to connectivity. Big picture: when the company starts shaping the plumbing, it’s usually because the house is getting even bigger.