Skip to main content

Corning’s glass is half full and rising

The name Corning is synonymous with glass and with good reason.

Corning developed the bulb-shaped glass for Edison’s incandescent lamp; Corning’s heat-resistant glass made safer railroad lanterns, technology that evolved into car headlights; CorningWare and Pyrex provided temperature resistance in kitchens and labs; and its glass ceramics were even employed in the nose cones of space ships.

Today we associate the name with Gorilla Glass, which is widely used in the mobile industry, but Corning is also a big manufacturer of display glass for TVs, optical fiber for communications, and the glass in catalytic converters for cars. The company recently unveiled Valor Glass, a new glass packaging product for use in the pharmaceutical industry, and it’s making further inroads in the automotive sector with car exteriors and interiors.

Recommended Videos

“We are really driven by this belief that we can continue to make life-changing innovations,” Chief Strategy Officer Jeff Evenson told Digital Trends. “We see a material with almost unlimited potential. We can make it strong, we can adjust its optics, we can adjust its chemical properties, we can adjust its thermal expansion behavior or lack thereof, we can adjust its electronic properties, and obviously we can adjust its color and other aesthetic properties.”

166 years of expertise

Now in its 166th year, Corning has 107 facilities and employs more than 45,000 people. Its global headquarters and research and development center is, naturally, based in Corning, in upstate New York, but it has facilities and employees all over the world. Most recently the company acquired an empty, million-square foot plant in Eugene, Oregon, which was previously the Hynix computer-chip plant. Corning has yet to reveal what it plans to make there.

While Corning is a household name, much of the work it does is behind the scenes, producing glass that goes into other manufacturer’s products. Most of its $9.4 billion sales in 2016 were generated by producing glass layers for TVs, and optical fiber strands for telecommunication networks.

“The display industry is our largest business in terms of sales and earnings,” Evenson said. “We account for a little bit more than 50 percent of the glass that goes into all televisions around the world.”

“We see a material with almost unlimited potential.”

Its Gen-10.5 glass technology allows the company to make a piece of glass that’s as thin as a business card, has the area of roughly two king size beds, and is flat to within 200 atoms all over without polishing. It’s not something that can be practically shipped, so Corning builds its factories contiguously with panel maker’s enormous plants.

“The main TV in someone’s living room continues to grow larger, and that’s the biggest trend and driver of volume for us,” Evenson said. “These large pieces of glass allow manufacturers to make large TVs much more cost effectively.”

The same manufacturing techniques are employed for the increasingly tough Gorilla Glass that covers many of our smartphones, and the display glass inside them, though the formulation is different.

Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5: Taking Tough to New Heights

“Our second largest business is optical communications,” Evenson explains. “Worth in excess of $3 billion in sales, we sell not only optical fiber, but a lot of the connectors and cables that go around it.”

Corning advanced the development of optical fiber in 1970 after winning a competition issued by the British Post Office Telecommunications department, which would later become British Telecom, to create a light pipe that could keep at least 1 percent of the light over a kilometer. Corning scientists used a technique called vapor deposition, originally developed to produce high quality glass for telescope lenses, to create strands of glass with very high purity.

“They were really focused on low thermal expansion, and what they observed was that the irregular expansion you’d get in normal glass that you’d have in a window was caused by impurities,” Evenson said. “They realized that you’d have to start with gasses instead of sand to control the purity. So, they learned to turn the gasses into a solid and then eventually remelt the solid and make it into a glass and that’s how optical fiber is made.”

Last September, Corning passed its billionth kilometer of optical fiber sold. It has been investing heavily in fiber plants in North Carolina and elsewhere to support higher levels of production ahead of the shift to 5G. Verizon has already agreed to a $1.05 billion three-year minimum purchase agreement for Corning to provide fiber optic cable and associated hardware to help it improve coverage and speed the roll out of 5G capabilities.

Venturing further into pharmaceuticals and autos

“Our next big business is environmental technology, built on the invention in the 1970s of extruded ceramics that can put the area of a soccer pitch into the volume of a soda can,” he said. “That has dramatically reduced emissions from cars, not only cars with internal combustion engines but also hybrid electric vehicles.”

This long-standing relationship with auto manufacturers has led Corning to think about where else glass might improve cars. We went to see Corning’s glass concept car at CES last year. Externally, the company is using Gorilla Glass to make lighter windows, which can provide better fuel economy or longer range in electric cars, and higher performance because lighter cars with a lower center of gravity can accelerate and brake more rapidly.

Gorilla Glass can be used to make clearer and more durable windshields, better able to deflect rock strikes without damage. Corning can also put an electronically controlled opacity film between the layers of glass to tint your car windows at the push of a button.

“For the interior of cars, it gives you a highly durable surface and allows car manufacturers to make an interface with the same responsiveness as a smartphone,” Evenson said.

This could enable new curved interior designs and even entire dashboards that can function as touchscreens. Corning is currently working with “25 auto platforms globally.”

“There are questions we’ve been asking at Corning that we’re closer to providing definitive answers to.”

The latest Corning product to hit headlines is its new Valor Glass, developed for the pharmaceutical industry. Back in 2011 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a paper that highlighted problems with glass vials. Interactions with the liquid inside can cause flaking, particles that shouldn’t be there can get in during manufacturing, and breakages cause frequent recalls.

Corning worked with Merck and Pfizer to develop damage-resistant glass that’s more efficient to manufacture and far less prone to contamination. It’s investing heavily to build facilities that will make this new aluminosilicate glass packaging and expects it to grow into a big business fast.

Seeking glass innovations

This new direction came about because Corning CEO Wendell P. Weeks also had a seat on the board at Merck and saw the problem. Because the applications for glass are so varied, Corning is constantly looking for new possibilities and partnerships.

“Sometimes you have an event like the British Post Office Telecommunications competition explaining to the world exactly what they need,” Evenson said. “Sometimes you have somebody like Steve Jobs realizing that to make the original iPhone, a plastic cover was insufficient, and he needed something that offered more scratch resistance.”

Corning
Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated

Jobs was annoyed that plastic scratches too easily, but he felt glass was too prone to cracking. He got wind of Gorilla Glass, but Corning wasn’t ready for mass production. In typical Jobs style, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography, he put in an order and gave Corning six months to produce enough cover glass for the original iPhone. Now in its fifth generation, Gorilla Glass has been used in more than 5 billion devices to date.

“Our relationships with companies have now evolved to the point that we share roadmaps with each other and that informs our research direction, Evenson said. “One area we don’t talk about much, but where I think glass could become incredibly valuable, is in the semiconductor industry to build high performance servers, switches, and routers.”

As people try to pack more transistors into a smaller volume by stacking chips, they need something in between that allows for electronic insulation needed while preserving the thermal properties of the silicon. Evenson thinks glass could be ideal and Corning is already working on glass interposers, though he admits it’s very early days for this kind of technology.

“We have lab reports going back 100 years. There were things 80 years ago that had no scientific limit, but there were practical limits at the time, and now we’re seeing advances that allow you to do those things,” Evenson excitedly said. “There are questions we’ve been asking at Corning that we’re getting closer to providing definitive answers to.”

One thing is for sure: Corning will continue to try and develop new glass innovations everywhere it sees a potential opportunity.

Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…
Slate Unveils $20K Electric Truck That Transforms Into an SUV
slate 20k ev blank  roller 1 web

Slate Automotive, a new American EV startup, has just unveiled its first vehicle: a radically minimalist electric truck that can convert into a five-seat SUV. Dubbed the “Blank Slate,” the EV made its debut this week, instantly turning heads not just for its versatility but for its incredibly low price—starting under $20,000 after federal tax incentives.

Unlike Tesla and Lucid, which launched with high-priced luxury models, Slate wants to flip the model: start cheap, scale up.
At its core, the Slate Truck is a utilitarian, two-seat electric pickup designed for simplicity and affordability. But what sets it apart is its transformative potential. Thanks to a modular accessory system, the truck can be upgraded over time—including a kit that adds a rear seat, roll cage, airbags, and SUV body panels. This means buyers can start with a minimalist pickup and evolve it into a family-friendly SUV—either themselves or through Slate’s growing network of service partners.
Customization is central to Slate’s vision. Owners will be able to choose from over 100 accessories at launch, ranging from vinyl wraps and Bluetooth-ready audio systems to larger battery packs and off-road upgrades. The company encourages a DIY approach, offering tools and tutorials through “Slate University” to empower users to modify and maintain their own vehicles.
Powering the truck is a 52.7-kWh battery for up to 150 miles of range, or an optional 84.3-kWh pack targeting 240 miles. Fast-charging capabilities and Tesla’s NACS port come standard. The vehicle is rear-wheel-drive and delivers around 200 horsepower—enough for urban commuting and light-duty hauling.
What enables the low price is Slate’s stripped-down approach to manufacturing. There’s no paint shop, no stamping, and only one trim level—everything else is modular. The vehicle features steel wheels, crank windows, and a rugged plastic body designed to take a beating and still look good. It’s a rejection of the tech-saturated, high-cost vehicles dominating today’s market.
Despite the minimalist specs, Slate isn’t skimping on safety. The truck is engineered to meet top crash test ratings and comes equipped with up to eight airbags, active emergency braking, and forward collision warning.
Backing this ambitious approach is significant investor support—including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. That backing, combined with a simplified production model, positions Slate to scale quickly once production begins in 2026.
Reservations are now open for $50 at slate.auto, with deliveries expected in late 2026. Whether Americans are ready for a stripped-down, shape-shifting EV remains to be seen, but Slate’s bet on affordability and customization could make it one of the most disruptive entries in the EV market to date.

Read more
ChatGPT’s awesome Deep Research gets a light version and goes free for all
Deep Research option for ChatGPT.

There’s a lot of AI hype floating around, and it seems every brand wants to cram it into their products. But there are a few remarkably useful tools, as well, though they are pretty expensive. ChatGPT’s Deep Research is one such feature, and it seems OpenAI is finally feeling a bit generous about it. 

The company has created a lightweight version of Deep Research that is powered by its new o4-mini language model. OpenAI says this variant is “more cost-efficient while preserving high quality.” More importantly, it is available to use for free without any subscription caveat. 

Read more
Star Wars legend Ian McDiarmid gets questions about the Emperor’s sex life
Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

This weekend, the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th anniversary re-release had a much stronger performance than expected with $25 million and a second-place finish behind Sinners. Revenge of the Sith was the culmination of plans by Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) that led to the fall of the Jedi and his own ascension to emperor. Because McDiarmid's Emperor died in his first appearance -- 1983's Return of the Jedi -- Revenge of the Sith was supposed to be his live-action swan song. However, Palpatine's return in Star Wars: Episode IX -- The Rise of Skywalker left McDiarmid being asked questions about his character's comeback, particularly about his sex life and how he could have a granddaughter.

While speaking with Variety, McDiarmid noted that fans have asked him "slightly embarrassing questions" about Palpatine including "'Does this evil monster ever have sex?'"

Read more