Massive investments into AI infrastructure are accelerating development of new solutions for optical connectivity. Performance of AI clusters is constrained by cost and power consumption of the optics. Linear drive pluggable (LPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO) offer 20% improvements in cost and 40% lower power consumption in comparison with standard re-timed transceivers. Yet, new optical materials and devices are needed to enable continuous improvements. If the optical industry fails to deliver, the AI infrastructure will find a different path forward, which will exclude optical connectivity. This opportunity should not be taken for granted.

This panel discussion will review promising optical technologies and barriers for their adoption. It will present a realistic roadmap for the next generation optical interconnects and requirements to connectivity in AI Clusters. This will be a call for action to leading suppliers, start-ups and industry organizations.

Moderator

Vladimir Kozlov CEO and Founder LightCounting (United States)

Panelists

Yosef Ben Ezra CTO New Photonics (United States)

Janet Chen Technical Sourcing Manager, Fiber Optics Meta (United States)

Alexey Kovsh CEO Alfalume (United States)

Bijian Nowroozi CTO Open Compute Project Foundation (United States)

Uday Poosarla Senior Director Celestial AI (United States)