Corning, Meta $6B deal for AI data centers

(The Center Square) – Within a national $6 billion deal announced Tuesday, another of the Big Five tech companies is investing in North Carolinians for jobs. Corning, with eight manufacturing locations and its Optical Communications headquarters in Charlotte, is poised to add an estimated 750 to 1,000 jobs at its optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory. The 175-year-old New York-based materials science company has a deal with Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, it says will supply “optical fiber, cable and connectivity products designed to meet the density and scale demands of advanced artificial intelligence centers.” The $6 billion package supports buildout of the most advanced data centers nationwide, with expectation to impact Ohio and Louisiana. Meta will be anchor customer in Hickory at the Trivium Corporate Center. In addition to high-powered computer chips, fiber optics moving large amounts of data efficiently between thousands of servers is crucial to artificial int