AWS to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical platform in its data centers
Amazon Web Services plans to deploy and scale 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) platform across its data center infrastructure, the two companies said in an announcement of an expanded strategic collaboration. They also plan to co-innovate and invest in optical connectivity for what the release calls next-generation super intelligence, also known as AI.
- AWS plans to deploy and scale 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) platform in its data center infrastructure.
- The collaboration is expected to support more than 500 jobs, including more than 100 new roles through 2027 in Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.
- 3M expects to contribute nearly $0.5 billion to the U.S. economy through its optical connectivity business.
- It builds on 3M's earlier plan to double production capacity at its Menomonie, Wisconsin, facility.
What 3M and AWS agreed
According to the announcement, 3M (NYSE: MMM) and AWS will work together on co-innovation and investment in optical connectivity and the infrastructure needed for next-generation AI. The central element is AWS's plan to deploy and scale the EBO platform in its data centers.
Wendy Bauer, Group President of 3M's Transportation and Electronics Business Group, said AWS's adoption "demonstrates the potential of our optical connectivity technology to meet the performance demands of next-generation data center infrastructure." She added that combining AWS's infrastructure expertise and scale with 3M's materials science capabilities can accelerate EBO deployment.
3M says the investment will accelerate innovation in optical networking and fiber termination, enable commercialization at scale and drive adoption across the data center industry.
Jobs and investment in the U.S.
A large part of the announcement concerns the U.S. economy. The collaboration and related investments are expected to support more than 500 jobs directly and indirectly. That includes the creation of more than 100 new roles through 2027 across Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.
According to the companies, the planned roles will support customer co-innovation, technology advancement and supply chain development across 3M's optical networking portfolio. They are also meant to help accelerate industrywide adoption through work with partners. 3M expects to contribute nearly $0.5 billion to the U.S. economy through its optical connectivity business.
Jens Gruenkemeir, Vice President of Supply Chain & Procurement at Amazon, said the work "reinforces our commitment to supporting good jobs here in the U.S." He pointed to the hundreds of jobs supported by 3M as a result of its collaboration with Amazon.
Manufacturing capacity and what it means
The collaboration builds on an earlier 3M announcement this year that it will double production capacity at its Menomonie, Wisconsin, manufacturing facility. The companies expect it to support U.S. manufacturing partners involved in equipment and production scale-up throughout the supply chain.
For the data center market, the announcement signals that one of the large cloud infrastructure operators intends to adopt a specific optical connectivity platform at scale. The release does not give financial terms, deployment timelines for the EBO rollout, or performance figures for the technology, so the practical impact on data center operations remains to be seen.
The statements about expected jobs and economic contribution are forward-looking and, as 3M notes in its release, subject to risks and uncertainties.
PR Newswire: 3M and AWS collaborate to advance optical connectivity innovation
