Nvidia, Intel, others pour $130m into optical chip startup Ayar Labs

Ayar Labs believes future chips and systems will be connected by light rather than electrical signals, and that vision is receiving considerable buy-in from semiconductor giants Nvidia and Intel – as well as a few other major tech companies and more than a dozen investment firms. This buy-in is coming in the form of a $130 …

[Anonymous Coward]

Optoelectronics?

Like robotics and AI, maybe it was a false dawn and remains permanently “coming real soon” but as I left University in 1992, Heriot-Watt University’s Dept of Optoelectronics (bastard offshoot from their Physics and Electrical Engineering Depts mating) was just being setup…. so Optical Chip startup is about 30 years in the making.

Looks like it’s currently “The Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPAQS)”

[NoneSuch]

Expect a buyout soon, followed by suppression of the IP for a very long time.

The large corps have invested trillions in silicon. Don't expect them to drop that overnight.

[Down not across]

This doesn't threaten that investment. All that silicon will need interconnects (whether internal or external to the chip). If anything this is complementary and could be benefit to all that investment in silicon (other than electrical interconnects).