Meta is investing heavily in AI and hardware products, and the tech giant needs more horsepower to handle the data processing required to power them. In its latest attempt, Meta has signed a new $6 billion multi-year deal with Corning to source fiber-optic cables for its data center infrastructure.
Corning, best known for Gorilla Glass, will manufacture these optic cables at its North Carolina facilities. The new deal will allow Corning to expand its manufacturing operations and increase its workforce in the state by 15 to 20 percent.
Data centers and fiber-optic cables are critical parts of the modern internet. Meta alone has over 26 operational or under-construction data centers in the US. These facilities have supported over 30,000 skilled trade jobs during construction and support 5,000 operational jobs, the company notes.
Meta relies on data centers to power its social media platforms, AI chatbots, and hardware such as the Ray Ban Meta AI glasses. However, these massive facilities require significant energy and resources to operate, prompting tech giants like Meta to seek ways to achieve sustainability.
One of Meta"s under-construction data centers in El Paso, Texas, is expected to become water-positive by 2030, almost two years after its planned launch. The company has promised to restore 200% of the water its AI-optimized data center consumes back to the local watersheds.
On a larger scale, Meta is also laying a super-long subsea fiber-optic cable called Project Waterworth to open three new oceanic corridors and fuel AI advancement. It will be a 50,000 km (approx. 31,000 miles) long subsea cable wrapping around the Earth, expected to cost more than $10 billion.
Meta is pouring more money into AI infrastructure each year. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in early 2025 that the company would invest around $60-65 billion in AI in 2025, which was later increased to $72 billion.
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