Photonic Chips Are Going Mainstream—First in Data-Center Networking, Then in Compute

Photonic Chips Are Going Mainstream—First in Data-Center Networking, Then in Compute

Light is replacing electricity in the most surprising places—inside the processors and networking equipment that power the modern AI revolution. While the term “photonic chips” suggests a distant reality, the technology is already emerging in tangible products, not just laboratory experiments. Over the next few years, the data centers that train and run artificial intelligence models will rely more on photons than electrons to move and process i…