Verizon disclosed a deal worth more than $1 billion to connect Google data centers with dark fiber and outlined a broader AI Connect business. Verizon said its dark-fiber agreement with Google was worth more than $1 billion and would connect data centers over unused fiber routes. The company disclosed the partnership during its second-quarter earnings call as part of an AI Connect business initiative.
CEO Dan Schulman said Verizon expected additional AI-related deals worth multiple billions of dollars in revenue over several years. Verizon is testing conversions of some central offices into small data centers for low-latency inference workloads such as robotics and autonomous vehicles.
The company said a small edge-computing trial sold out its available capacity within 24 hours. Verizon expanded its fiber footprint through a $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications completed at the start of 2026.
Dark fiber is installed fiber-optic capacity that is not currently lit with active transmission equipment and can be leased or dedicated to large customers. Training frontier models is usually concentrated in large facilities, while inference can benefit from smaller sites closer to users and devices.
Revenue forecasts depend on customer demand, construction, power availability and execution over several years rather than the initial announcement alone. As of the edition cutoff, The company did not publish route maps, capacity, full contract terms or audited future AI revenue. The available reports distinguish measurements and attributed claims from conclusions that had not yet been established. Where officials supplied numbers, those figures remain subject to revision as agencies reconcile records and publish later updates. Subsequent records may therefore change the totals without changing the initial chronology. The next factual records to examine are additional AI Connect customers and site conversions and capital spending, margins and power arrangements for edge facilities.