Nvidia is Betting $6.5bn on Photonics, Signaling It’s the Next AI Battleground Beyond Chips

Nvidia has committed at least $6.5 billion in three months to photonics-linked companies and startups, including Lumentum, Coherent, Marvell, Corning and Ayar Labs.

The move signals Nvidia is betting on optical connectivity to move AI data faster as traditional electrical interconnects run into bandwidth and power limits.

Photonic and silicon-photonics technologies could become a key upgrade path for scaling GPU clusters and data-center networking.

The push also highlights intensifying competition as AMD, Alphabet and Microsoft race to build larger AI infrastructure.