Nvidia has entered multiyear agreements with Lumentum and Coherent to co-develop silicon photonics lasers, modulators and transceivers tailored for next-generation GPU interconnects in data centers. These partnerships bring together Nvidia’s AI computing expertise with optical component leaders to accelerate deployment of high-bandwidth, low-latency links in hyperscale environments.

Investor fervor around optical technologies has driven Soitec’s stock up more than 300% year-to-date, buoyed by €100 million in photonics revenue, as data-center operators seek faster, more power-efficient interconnects. Nvidia’s move into this segment aligns with a broader industry trend of shifting from copper to light-based data transmission to meet surging AI compute demands.

By integrating silicon photonics, Nvidia aims to overcome bandwidth bottlenecks and power constraints of traditional copper connections, enhancing GPU cluster scalability and energy efficiency. This expansion positions Nvidia to capture additional revenue streams beyond GPUs, tapping into the growing market for optical interconnect hardware in AI and cloud infrastructure.