Tower Semiconductor and Marvell Technology announced on June 18, 2026 that they have shipped over five million coherent photonic integrated circuits, a milestone that underscores how central optical connectivity has become to the AI build-out. The chips address the surging bandwidth and efficiency demands of AI-driven data-center interconnect networks that link accelerators across racks and buildings.
Why photonics is the new bottleneck
As AI clusters scale to tens of thousands of GPUs, moving data between them at low power becomes as critical as the compute itself. Coherent optics pack far more bandwidth into each fiber than traditional interconnects, and integrating that capability onto silicon photonic chips is key to keeping energy use and cost in check.
A deep manufacturing partnership
The two companies have collaborated to advance next-generation coherent technologies, including the integration of non-silicon materials, 3D integration of electronics and photonics, and advanced optical packaging techniques such as V-Grooves. Tower serves as the specialty foundry while Marvell contributes coherent digital signal processing and system design, delivering finished parts to Marvell's global customer base.
Fueling the AI infrastructure race
The photonics milestone lands amid an intensifying scramble for AI infrastructure, from AMD and Rackspace's 30 MW governed compute deal to record AI-memory demand at Micron and government-backed chip pushes like South Korea's AI chip drive. Crossing five million units signals that coherent photonics has moved from niche to volume production for AI networking.
Reporting based on coverage from Tower Semiconductor and Marvell (GlobeNewswire), StockTitan and TipRanks.