Lightmatter releases new photonics technology for AI chips

Stephen Nellis

Mon, Mar 31, 2025, 6:02 PM 1 min read

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Lightmatter, a startup valued astatine $4.4 billion, connected Monday released 2 pieces of exertion aimed astatine speeding up the connections betwixt artificial quality chips.

Instead of moving accusation betwixt machine chips arsenic electrical signals, Lightmatter's exertion uses optical connections and what are known arsenic silicon photonics to determination the accusation utilizing light.

Mountain View, California-based Lightmatter has raised $850 cardinal successful task backing to day arsenic specified optical technologies person kicked disconnected a question of investments successful Silicon Valley amid a hunt for amended ways to drawstring unneurotic chips to powerfulness chatbots, representation generators and different AI applications.

AI spot firms similar Advanced Micro Devices person demonstrated the usage of optical technologies packaged unneurotic with their chips. Nvidia earlier this period introduced optical exertion successful immoderate of its networking chips, though its CEO said the exertion is not yet mature capable to usage successful each of its chips.

Lightmatter connected Monday introduced 2 caller products that are designed to beryllium packaged unneurotic with AI chips. One is called an interposer, a furniture of worldly that the AI spot sits atop to link to neighboring chips that besides beryllium atop the interposer. The different is simply a tiny tile called a "chiplet" that tin beryllium placed connected apical of an AI chip.

Lightmatter said its interposer volition beryllium released successful 2025 and the chiplet successful 2026. The interposer is manufactured by GlobalFoundries.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis successful San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)