- Computers using light rather than electric currents for processing are gaining traction, and startups using photons in chips are getting significant funding, Reuters reports.
- Ayar Labs, a startup developing silicon photonics technology, raised $130 million from investors, including Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).
- Beyond connecting transistor chips, startups using silicon photonics for building quantum computers, supercomputers, and chips for self-driving vehicles also raised significant funds.
- Another startup, PsiQuantum, raised $665 million.
- Lightmatter, which builds processors using light to speed up AI workloads in the data center, raised $113 million.
- Bill Gates-backed Luminous Computing, a startup building an AI supercomputer using silicon photonics, raised $115 million.
- Moore's law, which said that every two years, the density of the transistors on a chip would double and bring down costs, is slowing, pushing the industry to seek new solutions to handle increasingly heavy artificial intelligence computing needs.
- In 2021, silicon photonics startups raised over $750 million, doubling yearly.
- Experts saw AI is growing and taking over large parts of the data center, with silicon photonics becoming standard hardware in data centers.
- Semiconductor manufacturers also geared up to use their silicon chip-making technology for photonics.
- GlobalFoundries Inc (NASDAQ:GFS) disclosed that collaboration with PsiQuantum, Ayar, and Lightmatter has helped build up a silicon photonics manufacturing platform for others to use.
- Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
