From fibre networks to semiconductor technology, Corning’s innovations are helping AI systems run faster, smarter, and more efficiently.
New York, USA, 25 November 2025 – Glass is a material most people associate with everyday items such as drinking cups, windows, phone screens, and car windshields. But beyond its familiar uses, glass also plays a crucial role in powering the most advanced technologies in the world. Artificial intelligence, the force behind tools like ChatGPT, autonomous driving systems, fraud detection platforms, and virtual assistants, depends on groundbreaking glass innovations to function.
Every AI application begins inside a data centre, where thousands of powerful computers store and process massive amounts of digital information. These centres operate two major networks: a front-end network that supports user-facing applications, and a backend network that drives AI models, machine learning systems, and neural networks. The backend system relies on optical fibre made of ultra-thin glass to transmit enormous streams of data at extremely high speeds.
Corning created the world’s first low-loss optical fibre in 1970. Today, this technology powers modern data networks and enables AI systems to analyse information, understand language, and generate images. Without fibre, AI computing would not be possible at the scale seen today.
As AI expands, the need for fibre grows rapidly. AI networks require more than ten times the fibre capacity of typical data systems. This has driven demand for smaller, higher-density, and more powerful fibre components. Corning has spent years redesigning connectivity products to fit more fibre into tighter spaces while making installation faster and simpler for data-centre builders. These advancements help major cloud platforms, high-performance computing environments, and AI-driven applications operate more efficiently.
Corning also develops glass technologies for the semiconductor industry, supporting the chips and processors that perform AI calculations. These materials help enable faster, more reliable computing, forming another foundation of AI development.
As AI technology accelerates, networks must scale quickly to support self-driving vehicles, next-generation virtual assistants, and expanding digital services. Corning’s new SMF-28 Contour optical fibre and the Contour Flow cable were created to meet these demands, connecting large AI campuses and high-capacity data routes. A major example is Corning’s 2024 agreement with Lumen Technologies to supply next-generation fibre cable that will more than double Lumen’s intercity fibre miles, supporting rapidly growing AI workloads.
Corning is also collaborating with leading technology companies to advance AI performance. The company was recently named an innovation collaborator with NVIDIA in its silicon photonics ecosystem, helping improve energy efficiency and network reliability. Corning and Microsoft have also teamed up to scale the production of Microsoft’s Hollow Core Fiber, which will enhance the performance of Azure’s cloud and AI systems through advanced manufacturing in North Carolina.
These partnerships demonstrate that AI progress relies on cooperation across industries, combining materials science, data infrastructure, and digital engineering. By developing pioneering glass-based technologies, Corning is helping the world stay connected and enabling AI to evolve.
With every fibre strand, data pathway, and network advancement, Corning continues to support innovation that improves daily life and shapes the future of intelligent technology.
