Ayar Labs is working with NVIDIA on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure based on optical I/O technology to meet future demands of AI and high performance computing (HPC) workloads.
The collaboration will focus on integrating Ayar Labs’ technology to develop scale-out architectures enabled by high-bandwidth, low-latency and ultra-low-power optical-based interconnects for future NVIDIA products. Together, the companies plan to accelerate the development and adoption of optical I/O technology to support the explosive growth of AI and machine learning (ML) applications and data volumes.
“Today’s state-of-the-art AI/ML training architectures are limited by current copper-based compute-to-compute interconnects to build scale-out systems for tomorrow’s requirements,” said Charles Wuischpard, CEO of Ayar Labs. “Our work with NVIDIA to develop next-generation solutions based on optical I/O provides the foundation for the next leap in AI capabilities to address the world’s most sophisticated problems.”
“Over the past decade, NVIDIA-accelerated computing has delivered a million-X speedup in AI,” said Rob Ober, Chief Platform Architect for Data Center Products at NVIDIA. “The next million-X will require new, advanced technologies like optical I/O to support the bandwidth, power and scale requirements of future AI and ML workloads and system architectures.”
Ayar Labs lands $130m for In-Package Optical I/O
Ayar Labs, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, secured $130 million in additional financing for its optical I/O solution.
With the new investment, Ayar Labs said it is ramping production and securing supply chain partners, as signaled by previously announced multi-year strategic collaborations with Lumentum and Macom, both leaders in optical and photonic products, as well as GlobalFoundries on its new GF Fotonix platform. The company also confirmed that it made its first volume commercial shipments under contract and expects to ship thousands of units of its in-package optical interconnect by end of year.
The new funding was led by Boardman Bay Capital Management. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and NVIDIA entered this investment round, joining existing strategic investors Applied Ventures LLC, GlobalFoundries, Intel Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures. Other new strategic and financial investors participating in the round include Agave SPV, Atreides Capital, Berkeley Frontier Fund, IAG Capital Partners, Infinitum Capital, Nautilus Venture Partners, and Tyche Partners. They join existing investors such as BlueSky Capital, Founders Fund, Playground Global, and TechU Venture Partners.
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What’s hot at OFC22? Ayar Labs on Optical I/O
There is a lot of discussion about optical I/O and the challenge of getting photonics integrated much closer to compute units, says Mark Wade, co-founder and CTO, Ayar Labs.Last year, Ayar Labs demonstrated its end-to-end, DWDM micro-ring solution for optical I/O. This year, it’s clear that big parts of the industry are heading in this direction. Some highlights for the ecosystem include GlobalFoundries newly announced photonics platform, a…
