How A Million Miles Of Undersea Cables Power The Internet — And Now AI

Subsea fiber-optic cables are the world’s information superhighways with over 95% of the world’s international data traveling through them. This not only includes email, video calls, and streaming but also financial transactions and government communications.

Tech giants including Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are heavily investing in building subsea cable infrastructure to service their AI demands and connect their growing network of data centers. Because of the importance of this infrastructure however, subsea cables have become the targets of suspected sabotage. To understand how subsea cables work, CNBC visited Alcatel Submarine Networks subsea cable manufacturing facilities in Calais, France and Greenwich, England. We also spoke to government officials and tech giants to find out why subsea cables are crucial to keeping us connected and what we can do to protect this critical infrastructure.

Chapters:

0:00 - 3:02 Introduction

3:02 - 4:45 How do subsea cables work?

4:45 - 7:30 Increasing demand

7:30 - 13:05 Manufacturing and installation

13:05 - 22:08 Cable cuts and grey-zone tactics

Produced and Shot by: Magdalena Petrova

Camera and Editing: Erin Black

Animation: Jason Reginato, Mallory Brangan

Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt

Additional Editing: Nic Golden Henry

Additional Camera: Benjamin Hall

Additional Footage: ASN, Getty Images, Google, Reuters

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How A Million Miles Of Undersea Cables Power The Internet — And Now AI