Nvidia, AMD, Intel Invest in Light-Based Tech for Next-Gen Chips, Ayar Labs Secures $155M Funding

Ayar Labs, a pioneer in optical interconnect technology for enhancing chip-to-chip and system-to-system connections, has just secured $155 million in Series D financing. This round of funding saw significant contributions from venture capital heavyweights AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, and Nvidia. The involvement of these leading companies underscores the critical role of optical interconnects in the advancement of next-generation AI and high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Ayar Labs aims to bring its innovative technology to market by mid-2026.

Ayar Labs has successfully miniaturized fiber-optic communication technology to integrate within semiconductor packages, a development of great interest to major tech firms like AMD, Intel, and Nvidia. These companies are keen on transitioning from traditional electrical interconnects to more efficient optical solutions, according to Bloomberg. Currently, Ayar Labs is developing two major products: the TeraPHY Optical I/O chiplet and the SuperNova multi-port, multi-wavelength light source.

The TeraPHY Optical I/O chiplet is impressively compact, allowing for seamless integration into sophisticated chip packages. It offers up to 4 Tbps of bidirectional bandwidth and boasts a minimal latency of 5 ns per chiplet plus the time-of-flight (TOF) latency, making it ideal for package-to-package connections. Despite its high speed, the chiplet’s power consumption is relatively low at about 10W, or 5 pJ per byte.

The SuperNova remote light source is another crucial component of Ayar Labs’ optical I/O offerings. This device can deliver up to 16 wavelengths of light to support 16 ports, enabling it to handle 256 data channels or provide 16 Tbps of bidirectional capacity. Ayar Labs claims that this technology can achieve 5–10 times the bandwidth, 10 times the latency reduction, and 4–8 times the power efficiency over traditional interconnects such as pluggable optics and electrical SerDes.

“The support from leading GPU providers like AMD and Nvidia, along with major semiconductor foundries like GlobalFoundries, Intel Foundry, and TSMC — complemented by investments from Advent, Light Street, and others — highlights the transformative potential of our optical I/O technology for the future of AI infrastructure,” stated Mark Wade, CEO and co-founder of Ayar Labs. “We are extremely fortunate to benefit from Light Street’s deep expertise in technology investments and Advent’s extensive experience in private and growth equity through this funding round.”

GlobalFoundries is currently responsible for manufacturing Ayar’s chips, but the company is also collaborating with Intel to incorporate its photonic technology into Intel’s fabrication processes and is in talks with TSMC. Customers are in the process of testing Ayar’s chips, and both TeraPHY and SuperNova are slated for mass production readiness by mid-2026.

The Series D funding round was led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital, with participation from AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, and Nvidia. New contributors included 3M Ventures and Autopilot. Existing backers such as GlobalFoundries, Applied Ventures LLC, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and VentureTech Alliance also supported this round, pushing Ayar Labs’ total funding to $370 million and elevating its valuation to beyond $1 billion.