Verizon signs a $1 billion-plus dark-fiber deal to connect Google's AI data centers

Verizon has signed a contract worth more than $1 billion to connect Google’s AI data centers using dark fiber, Chief Executive Dan Schulman said on the carrier’s second-quarter earnings call on July 24.

Under the agreement, Verizon will light up dark fiber, the unused strands in its long-haul and metro networks, to link Google’s AI data centers, compute clusters and regions, with Google operating the connection using its own networking equipment. Neither Verizon nor Alphabet disclosed the deal’s duration or geographic scope.

The contract points to a new revenue line for a telecom company whose core wireless business has grown slowly. Schulman said Verizon expects to announce additional deals with other hyperscalers by the end of 2026, together worth multiple billions of dollars over the next several years, with AI infrastructure contributing meaningfully to revenue starting in 2027.

Verizon’s own second-quarter earnings release did not name Google or cite the dollar figure, saying only that “with the emergence of AI infrastructure revenue, we are fundamentally reshaping Verizon’s growth trajectory.” The $1 billion figure and Google’s identity come from Schulman’s remarks on the call.

That gap matters for how firmly the deal can be characterized. The specifics rest on the executive’s earnings-call comments rather than a signed disclosure naming the counterparty, and Google has not separately confirmed the arrangement.

Investors welcomed the news anyway. Verizon shares rose more than 3% after the disclosure, and Alphabet stock gained about 1%.

Whether Verizon lands a second hyperscaler fiber deal before year-end, as Schulman promised, will test whether AI connectivity becomes a durable business or a single large contract.