Chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries announced on Monday (17th) that it has acquired Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), a Singapore-based chip company that focuses on silicon photonics technology. GlobalFoundries did not release financial details of the deal.
Silicon photonic technology can integrate traditional computing chip technology and optical network technology, use light to transmit data, and is being used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and quantum computers.
In addition, Silicon Valley startups such as Ayar Labs, Celestial AI and Lightmatter are also developing optical connections between wafers, some of which use GlobalFoundries as a manufacturer.
GlobalFoundries is already a major player in the field of silicon photonics, helping startups such as PsiQuantum, which is building a quantum computer in Chicago, to create photonic chips. GlobalFoundries said that through the acquisition of AMF, it will become the world's largest silicon photonics manufacturer and plans to set up a new research center in Singapore.
GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen said in a statement that as data transmission speeds accelerate and workloads become more complex, the ability to transmit information with higher speed, accuracy and energy efficiency has become a basic need for AI data centers and advanced telecommunications networks.
NVIDIA is currently working with TSMC to package some network chips with optical connections. The company plans to implement silicon photonics technology on the next generation of AI servers to reduce power consumption while increasing data transmission speeds. AMD recently spent nearly US$300 million to establish and launch the AMD Silicon Photonics R&D Center in the Kaohsiung Bay Area. Earlier this year, AMD also acquired Enosemi, another silicon photonics subsidiary, to enhance its competitiveness with NVIDIA.
In addition to its application in the field of AI, silicon photons are also a key technology in quantum computing. Using optical signals to replace electrical signals may eliminate the need for cryogenic cooling of the system, making quantum computers more practical and cheaper to operate.
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