Verizon signs $2 billion-plus AWS deal to connect AI data centers

Verizon has signed an agreement worth more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services to supply high-capacity fiber connections for AWS data centers. Disclosed October 26, 2026, the deal expands an existing strategic partnership and gives Verizon a multibillion-dollar role in the network infrastructure supporting AI workloads, rather than the computing hardware itself.

Verizon will provide high-capacity fiber-optic connectivity for AWS facilities, with faster and more reliable data transfers as the intended benefit, according to CNBC. The service is designed to support growing AI computing workloads. The agreement’s concrete network component is therefore the connectivity serving AWS data centers, not a purchase of AI processors.

Verizon describes the arrangement as a commercial framework for scaling distributed computing—computing spread across multiple locations. Its stated aim is to meet the real-time demands of agentic and generative AI workloads. That places data movement alongside computing capacity in the company’s description of what the partnership will support.

At the same time, technology leaders are choosing our fiber network to power the next generation of AI infrastructure.

Dan Schulman, Verizon CEO

AWS is not Verizon’s only recent cloud customer for data-center connectivity. In July, Verizon announced an agreement worth more than $1 billion with Google to connect data centers using dark fiber. The earlier contract provides a concrete example behind Schulman’s emphasis on technology companies choosing Verizon’s fiber network.

For Verizon, these agreements point to a potential revenue stream beyond its traditional wireless and broadband services. The opportunity described by CNBC is to sell data-center connectivity as AI demand grows, putting the carrier’s fiber network to work for cloud customers.

The AWS agreement’s capacity target, deployment schedule and contract duration remain unspecified. Its headline value establishes the scale of the signed agreement, but does not show when connectivity will be delivered or how much revenue Verizon will recognize in any given year.