Verizon Touts $1B Dark Fiber Deal Connecting Google Data Centers

Telecommunications giant Verizon has revealed a deal valued at more than $1 billion to connect Google's data centers using Verizon's dark fiber routes. As part of a broader strategy to capitalize on AI spending, Verizon is also repurposing its central office facilities into smaller data centers designed to handle AI inference tasks.

The partnerships and infrastructure changes were disclosed during Verizon's second-quarter 2026 earnings call, framed by a new business initiative called "AI Connect." The company anticipates announcing additional AI-related deals by year-end, which CEO Dan Schulman indicated would generate "multiple billions of dollars in revenue over the next several years."

"Now it really is about, 'how do you connect data center to data center to assure that you can optimize to maximize the ever-exploding need for compute?'" Schulman stated. He noted a parallel demand for powering inference models and ultra-low latency applications, such as robotics, remote surgery, and autonomous driving, which require edge deployment rather than large, centralized data centers.

Verizon's move into dark fiber connectivity and edge data center conversions signals its intent to capture a growing market driven by artificial intelligence and the need for high-performance computing infrastructure. This strategy positions Verizon to leverage the increasing demand for robust data center interconnectivity and localized processing power.