By Kelly Cloonan


Amazon.com said it entered a multibillion-dollar agreement with Corning to get optical fiber, cable and connectivity solutions to support its growing data center footprint.

The investment, disclosed Monday, will allow Corning to expand production and create 1,000 new jobs at its manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, the companies said Monday.

Shares of Corning gained 5.7% to $187.70 Monday. The stock has more than doubled this year.

Corning--known for making specialty glass, ceramics and fiber-optic products--has gained steam lately amid a race to build enough computing power to power the artificial intelligence boom. The company, which once manufactured light bulbs for Thomas Edison, has attracted demand from many hyperscalers for its fiber-optic cables, a key connective tissue for AI infrastructure.

Last month, Corning notched a $500 million investment from Nvidia as part of a partnership to expand its manufacturing of fiber optics. Earlier this year, the company also struck a deal worth up to $6 billion with Meta to supply fiber-optics to support the tech company's data center buildout.

Companies are facing pressure in the race to build out massive data centers. Key challenges include approval from grid operators and power companies to connect data centers to the system, given power-hungry facilities threaten to strain the grid during times of high electricity demand.

The agreement with Corning adds to Amazon's existing plans, disclosed last year, to invest $10 billion to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in North Carolina.

Corning and Amazon also plan to work together on a program aimed at training students for careers in fiber optic manufacturing and related technical roles.


Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-08-26 1016ET