Nvidia is working with Zayo to scale the network infrastructure needed to support rising artificial intelligence (AI) traffic demands and make sure AI factories have the network capability needed for AI’s growth.
At the heart of the collaboration between the networking infrastructure firm and the AI processor leader is the market reality that network capacity has become a major constraint on AI growth.
Zayo and Nvidia say their project matters even more because AI has entirely changed where and how network infrastructure needs to be built. They noted that while most providers focus on overbuilding existing routes, AI’s long-term growth will also require new infrastructure in areas where demand is and will likely concentrate.
Moreover, Zayo warned that AI cannot scale broadly if access to connectivity is limited to only the largest hyperscalers. Neoclouds, frontier model developers and enterprises across healthcare, finance, manufacturing and other industries increasingly depend on the same high-capacity network foundation that Zayo’s network expansion will deliver.
One of the key areas for capacity is for factories which are seen as reshaping the requirements of global network infrastructure, driving demand for fibre capacity at a scale the partners insist has never been seen before. Long-haul fibre is critical to connecting workloads across the increasingly distributed AI ecosystem, including in new and emerging AI corridors where existing long-haul capacity is scarce or does not yet exist.
“The next constraint for AI is not just compute – it is the ability to connect massive, distributed AI infrastructure at scale,” said Dylan Patel, CEO of research firm SemiAnalysis. “As GPU [graphics processing unit] clusters, AI factories and hyperscaler deployments expand beyond the traditional datacentre hubs, long-haul fibre becomes a critical layer of the AI supply chain.
“Zayo’s work with Nvidia directly addresses one of the most important infrastructure gaps in the market: building new high-capacity corridors where AI demand is emerging, not just adding capacity where networks already exist.”
In practical terms, the collaboration will see Zayo building more than 8,000 miles of long-haul fibre across what it considers the fastest-growing AI corridor and significantly expanding capacity across its existing infrastructure. As the gap between compute demand and available network capacity widens, Zayo said it would be expanding bandwidth to help AI factories operate, scale and innovate.
That said, the firm conceded that building this infrastructure will remain one of the most complex challenges. It said its buildout will deliver six net-new long-haul routes across emerging AI corridors, as well as overbuilds of existing network across 10 high-demand markets.
“AI is fundamentally reshaping where and how network infrastructure needs to be built across the US,” said Zayo CEO Steve Smith. “Zayo has invested significantly in modelling where AI-driven demand will emerge, and is actively expanding infrastructure ahead of that demand. As AI adoption accelerates and compute demand grows across the ecosystem, the need for new network corridors and scalable connectivity is increasing.
“If we look at Neoclouds specifically, we know their customers depend on them to make compute infrastructure accessible as soon as they need it, and network capacity is imperative to making that happen,” he added. “As AI infrastructure becomes more distributed, access to high-capacity connectivity in the right markets is becoming critical to how quickly providers, like Neoclouds, can bring new GPU capacity online and support customer demand. Building new AI corridors where infrastructure is actually scaling helps remove a major bottleneck for the broader AI ecosystem.”
Vladimir Troy, vice-president of engineering and AI infrastructure at Nvidia, said: “AI is moving faster than ever, and the network is quickly becoming just as critical to that progress as compute itself. Zayo’s work with Nvidia is helping us get ahead of that curve; pairing Zayo’s expertise in large-scale network infrastructure with Nvidia’s AI leadership to build the connectivity backbone the entire ecosystem needs to keep innovating.”
