Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the company’s new partnership with Corning represents an important opportunity to rebuild critical parts of the technology supply chain in the United States.
“We’re going through the single largest infrastructure buildout in human history,” Huang said “Mad Money” on Wednesday. “Artificial intelligence is going to become fundamental infrastructure all over the world, and surely here in the United States.”
His comments came one day after Nvidia announced a major partnership with Corning to dramatically expand domestic optical connectivity manufacturing capacity. As part of the deal, Corning is building three new facilities in Texas and North Carolina, saying it will create more than 3,000 jobs.
Corning shares surged more than 12% following the announcement in Wednesday’s session, while Nvidia shares popped 6%. Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club, owns the stocks of both Corning and Nvidia.
Huang said the scale of AI infrastructure spending is creating a unique opportunity to reinvest in American manufacturing and supply chains after decades of offshoring. The technology supply chain, in particular, has developed strong roots in places like Taiwan, China and Vietnam.
“This is such an extraordinary opportunity because we can use these market dynamics to reinvest, revitalize American manufacturing for the first time in several generations,” he said.
The partnership centers on optical technologies used to connect chips within massive AI data centers. Huang said the next generation of AI infrastructure will require enormous amounts of optical connectivity as computing demands are rapidly increasing to the point where copper wires aren’t able to keep up.
“We’re going to scale up optical at a scale that, quite frankly, no optical companies have ever enjoyed,” Huang said.
According to Huang, the current wave of AI investment is benefiting far more than just technology companies. He pointed to rising demand for electricians, construction workers, chip manufacturing employees, and data center infrastructure specialists as evidence that the buildout is already rippling through the broader economy.
“The number of shortages that we have, and the demand for all of these skilled craft experts, are just incredibly high,” Huang said.
Huang said Nvidia’s partnership with Corning is ultimately about ensuring the U.S. has the infrastructure and supply chain necessary to support the next phase of AI development.
“We need the support and partnership of the world’s best companies in our supply chain to help us create and realize this future,” he said. “Silicon photonics and optical technology is a very big part of that.”
