Investing.com — Lumen Technologies shares surged 17.8% in premarket trading on Monday following the announcement of a strategic partnership with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) aimed at significantly increasing network capacity to support Meta’s growing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The new collaboration will leverage Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric to provide Meta with enhanced interconnection and bandwidth flexibility, enabling the tech giant to meet the increasing demand for AI-driven services.

The partnership aligns with Meta’s vision to advance AI capabilities for a more connected world. Meta’s director of Network Investments, Alex-Handrah Aimé, said: “We are excited to work with Lumen to use this advanced network to provide scale and reliability for seamless experiences.”

Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, Lumen’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said the company is “enabling one of the biggest expansions of network capacity in our lifetime.”

“We’ve transformed our company to meet this demand.” She added that the expanded network will provide seamless and flexible connectivity as Meta’s platforms integrate more AI tools and services.

The partnership highlights the growing need for infrastructure as AI technology evolves to handle complex tasks like real-time language translation and image generation.

The initiative will offer access to both existing and new fiber routes between data centers, allowing Meta to continue to meet the needs of billions of users globally.

Lumen’s network solutions aim to prepare both companies for future developments in AI by supporting increasingly complex computing tasks.

The partnership comes as AI technologies take center stage across industries, underscoring the need for scalable and reliable networks.

Investors have responded positively, driving Lumen’s stock higher to levels last seen in October 2022.

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