The deal marks a major infrastructure investment by Google amid rising AI-driven capital expenditures and data center expansion.
Verizon has signed a $1 billion agreement to provide dark-fiber connectivity for Google’s data centers. The contract, disclosed during Verizon’s post-earnings call, supports Google’s infrastructure needs but lacks details on duration or geographic scope.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported a $5.9 billion negative free cash flow in Q2, its first since going public, driven by accelerated AI infrastructure spending. Alphabet raised its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $195 billion-$205 billion, up from $180 billion-$190 billion, focusing on servers and networking.
Verizon expects to announce additional deals by 2026 but did not specify potential customers or contract values. Dark fiber offers Google greater control over network capacity and design compared to managed services.