Nvidia’s spending $4 billion on photonics to stay ahead of the curve in AI | The Verge

TechAINewsNvidia’s spending $4 billion on photonics to stay ahead of the curve in AIOptical tech from Lumentum and Coherent could be key to connecting the GPUs inside AI data centers.Optical tech from Lumentum and Coherent could be key to connecting the GPUs inside AI data centers.by Stevie BonifieldMar 2, 2026, 4:56 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Cath Virginia / The VergePart OfChip race: Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Nvidia battle it out for AI chip supremacysee all updates Stevie Bonifield is a news writer covering all things consumer tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI.Nvidia announced on Monday that it’s investing $2 billion each into Lumentum and Coherent, which are both developing photonics technology for data centers, like optical transceivers, circuit switches, and lasers, which are used to move data at high speeds over long distances. Their tech could improve energy efficiency, data transfer speeds, and bandwidth in future AI data centers, after Nvidia already capitalized on its 2020 acquisition of the network hardware company Mellanox to beef up NVLink and increase the amount of data moving between its GPUs.For Lumentum, the nonexclusive multiyear deal includes a “multibillion purchase commitment and future capacity access rights for advanced laser components,” as well as support for expanding R&D and manufacturing. Coherent’s deal is described similarly, with a “multibillion-dollar purchase commitment and futu...