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3M Joins AI Infrastructure Partnership on Expanded Beam Optical Connectivity

Provided by Dow Jones May 12, 2026, 12:59:00 PM

By Nicholas G. Miller

3M established an agreement with a group of technology companies focused on expanded beam optical connectivity to be used in AI infrastructure.

Expanded beam optical technology aims to eliminate dust and other contamination in data centers, reducing the need for connector inspection or cleaning.

It is "increasingly seen as a critical enabler for AI infrastructure, offering advantages in reliability, ease of maintenance and performance in high-density environments," 3M said. The agreement "is designed to accelerate deployment of high-performance optical interconnects required to support the rapid scaling of AI data centers."

Companies participating in the agreement include AMD, Cisco, Meta and Oracle, in addition to several others.

Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2026 08:59 ET (12:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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