AI is transforming industries, but the data centers powering it require more energy and water than ever.

At the break, join Christoph Beck, chairman and CEO of EcoLab, for insights on using water effectively

while safeguarding this critical resource for future generations.

Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, January 27th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal.

Meta has struck a multi-year deal worth up to $6 billion to buy fiber optic cable from Corning.

Corning is known for making specialty glass, ceramics, and fiber optic products.

It's said today that it'll supply META with its newest generation of

optical fiber, cable, and connectivity hardware. The companies said the move is part of META's plan

to build major data centers across the U.S. and to source advanced technology made domestically.

To meet the demand, Corning plans to expand manufacturing capacity across its

North Carolina operations. We exclusively report that the Trump administration is warning South Korea

against discriminatory regulations and investigations targeting U.S. tech companies

amid rising trade tensions. People familiar with the matter say

Vice President J.D. Vance met with the South Korean Prime Minister last week to issue this warning.

Many recent discussions involve Ku Peng, a U.S.-based e-commerce company similar to Amazon.

It does nearly all its business in South Korea and has allies in the Trump administration and Congress.

The vice president's office declined to comment. The South Korean embassy in Washington didn't respond to

request for comment on the meeting, but the prime minister told local media his government is

not discriminating against couping. And Amazon is closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh

physical stores. The company said today that its branded stores failed to deliver a distinctive

customer experience with an economic model that could be scaled up successfully. According to an

Amazon spokeswoman, the closures will include 57 fresh stores and 15 Amazon Go locations.

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