Photonics gains ground for chip data movement

As data centers strain to move huge amounts of data—especially with the demands from AI—chipmakers are looking beyond traditional copper wires. Photonics, which uses light instead of electrons to transfer data, is now being adopted for connections inside and between server racks. It's promising much faster speeds, but the shift brings complex engineering challenges. Engineers are now figuring out how to bring optical signaling closer to the processor itself.

• Photonics uses light for faster data transfer
• Data demands from AI driving adoption in data centers
• Current focus is server and rack interconnects
• Future goal is optical signaling directly at the processor
• Engineering challenges remain substantial