AI buildout and internet investment surge as underwater cables become crucial

The rapid expansion of AI is reshaping global network priorities, driving a surge in investment toward internet underwater cables that carry more than 95% of international data.

As tech giants race to train larger and more complex models, the pipes that connect global data centres have become just as vital as the compute powering them.

Industry leaders have noted that the new era of AI requires far more capacity than satellites or existing systems can provide, making subsea fiber networks indispensable.

The world’s million-mile web of internet underwater cables now supports everything from government communications to financial transactions and high-bandwidth data transfers.

Major companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google are leading a new wave of infrastructure expansion, pouring billions into ultra-long, high-capacity systems designed to keep pace with rising AI workloads.

Meta’s newly announced 50,000-kilometer Waterworth cable and Amazon’s Fastnet system highlight the scale of the shift, with executives warning that advanced AI is useless without strong connectivity.

Experts have also noted that as AI continues to grow, countries and companies will rely even more heavily on internet underwater cables to move colossal amounts of data.