Nvidia targets AI infrastructure with $2 billion photonics investment in Lumentum

Nvidia said Monday it will invest 2 billion dollars to expand research and manufacturing capacity in advanced optical networking technologies critical to next generation artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company announced the investment alongside multiyear supply agreements for optical components used in large artificial intelligence computing systems. As artificial intelligence systems scale to thousands or even millions of processors, the infrastructure required to move data between them has become a growing constraint in modern data centers. The investment will support Lumentum Holdings, a manufacturer of optical and photonic technologies based in San Jose, California. Lumentum plans to expand research and development and build additional United States manufacturing capacity, including a new fabrication facility. Photonics refers to technologies that transmit information using light rather than electrical signals. The collaboration will focus in part on silicon photonics, which integrates optical communication technologies directly with semiconductor chips to accelerate data transfer inside artificial intelligence systems. Optical interconnects allow data to travel faster and with greater energy efficiency, making them essential for large computing clusters. Michael Hurlston, chief executive of Lumentum, said the agreement will increase capacity and accelerate development of components designed for the artificial intelligence optical architectures of tomorrow. Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive of Nvidia, said artificial intelligence has reinvented computing and is driving the largest computing infrastructure buildout in history.