Data‑Centers: Rising Demand for Optical‑Fiber Connections Driven by the AI Era

The rapid expansion of artificial‑intelligence computing clusters has triggered revolutionary changes to internal data‑center network architecture, greatly boosting the consumption of optical‑fiber products.

Traditional cloud‑computing data centers mainly deal with north‑south external network traffic. Yet AI computing facilities generate massive east‑west data transmission between massive GPU accelerator chips. Mass‑scale inter‑chip synchronization calls for high‑bandwidth, low‑latency and highly‑stable optical interconnection links, which brings explosive growth in fiber deployment density inside server racks, equipment halls and computing campuses.

Compared with common‑use G.652‑D communication‑grade fiber, AI data centers prefer premium‑grade products, including the G.657A‑2 bend‑insensitive fiber for dense wiring, ultra‑low‑loss G.654‑E fiber for long‑distance inter‑machine‑room transmission, miniature optical cables and hollow‑core fiber.

According to CRU statistics, the share of global fiber‑optic consumption contributed by data‑center businesses has climbed from 3.65% in 2023 to 12.67% in 2025. Our calculation predicts that the 2026‑2027 global fiber demand from data centers will hit 132 million and 244 million core‑kilometers, with year‑on‑year growth rates reaching 76% and 86%.

Major hyperscale cloud‑service providers have signed multi‑year long‑term supply contracts with leading fiber manufacturers to lock up sufficient high‑end fiber resources. Fiber‑optic connectivity has evolved into one of the core bottleneck resources restricting the scaling‑up of AI computing power.

North‑American cloud‑service providers have accelerated capital expenditure, fueling rising deployment demand for hyperscale data centers. According to the Q4‑2025 financial reports released by Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google, the combined capital outlay of the four‑company group (MAMG) surged 66.64 % year‑on‑year to USD 117.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. Breakdown by enterprise: Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google posted quarterly capital spending of USD 29.876 billion, 38.469 billion, 21.383 billion and 27.851 billion respectively, with year‑on‑year growth rates hitting +84 %, +48 %, +48 % and +95 %.

Application scenarios for optical‑fiber links within data‑center communication networks are sorted out as follows:

1.DCI (Data Center Interconnect) refers to inter‑connection between separate data centers, which is generally realized via optical cables.

2.Intra‑data‑center connections

a. Inter‑cabinet interconnection: Top‑of‑rack switches from different cabinets are connected through optical modules matched with optical fibers.

b. Board‑to‑board connections inside cabinets: Links between top‑of‑rack switches and built‑in computing units (servers) adopt AOC cables, or the alternative combination of optical modules and optical fibers.