Meta Unveils Petal Transatlantic Subsea Cable to Bolster AI Infrastructure by 2029

Meta Platforms has announced Petal, a 7,000-kilometer transatlantic subsea cable delivering 1 petabit per second of capacity between the United States and France. Projected to enter commercial service in 2029, the system is designed to handle surging artificial intelligence workloads across Meta's data centers. Meta is partnering with NEC, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Orange to build and land the infrastructure, which marks the first transoceanic deployment of multi-core fiber technology. The expansion aligns with Meta raising its FY2026 capital expenditure guidance to between $130 billion and $145 billion, up from $72.22 billion in FY2025.