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Corning Inc. on Tuesday unveiled an agreement valued at up to $6 billion to supply Meta Platforms Inc. with fiber optic cable components destined for sprawling data center projects—an industrial handshake aimed squarely at the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence.

The multiyear pact will push Corning to expand manufacturing in North Carolina, the company said, as it ramps up capacity to meet Meta’s demand for high-performance optical connectivity.

Hickory Plant to Anchor Expansion

Meta will become the anchor customer for an expanded optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, North Carolina, Corning said. The site will serve as a hub for producing components designed to shuttle massive volumes of data at lightning speed—arteries for the digital economy’s beating heart.

Corning Chief Executive Wendell Weeks said the long-term agreement is expected to drive a 15% to 20% increase in the company’s North Carolina workforce, lifting total employment in the state to more than 5,000.

Meta Bets on Domestic Manufacturing

“Building the most advanced data centers in the U.S. requires world-class partners and American manufacturing,” said Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer. He said the company is proud to team up with Corning, citing its deep expertise in optical connectivity and its commitment to domestic production to support Meta’s AI infrastructure needs.

Like laying new rails for a high-speed train, the deal underscores the race to fortify U.S.-based supply chains as demand for AI-ready data centers accelerates.

Limited Details, Big Signal

Representatives for Corning and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Information about legal counsel for the companies was not immediately available.

Still, the announcement sends a clear signal: as data centers multiply and AI workloads swell, the glass-and-fiber maker from New York is positioning North Carolina as a cornerstone of America’s digital buildout.