Nvidia has committed at least $6.5 billion to photonics companies since early March 2026, including $2 billion each in Coherent, Lumentum, and Marvell, up to $3.2 billion in Corning, and participation in Ayar Labs’ $500 million Series E. The investments target replacing copper wiring with light-based interconnects for AI training clusters that require far more bandwidth than electrical links can provide. Photonics transmits data using light, enabling substantially higher bandwidth with lower power consumption, which matters when thousands of GPUs operate together. The supply chain for photonics components is not yet scaled for AI infrastructure, so the funding includes manufacturing capacity expansion and multi-year purchase commitments to build capacity and secure supply.
"Nvidia has committed at least $6.5 billion to photonics companies since the beginning of March, making it the largest single investor in the technology that many in the industry believe will replace copper wiring as the backbone of AI data centres. The spending spree reflects a calculation that copper, the standard medium for moving data between chips, is approaching its physical limits just as AI training clusters are demanding exponentially more bandwidth."
"Photonics uses light rather than electrical signals to transmit data. It offers substantially higher bandwidth at lower power consumption, two constraints that become critical when thousands of GPUs need to operate as a unified system. The problem is that the photonics supply chain is not yet built to the scale AI infrastructure requires. Nvidia's broader investment strategy in 2026, which now exceeds $40 billion across AI equity bets, is designed to fix that."
"The bulk of the spending went to three established optical component makers. Nvidia invested $2 billion each in Coherent and Lumentum in early March, with both deals including multi-billion-dollar purchase commitments and funding for new US fabrication capacity. A further $2 billion went to Marvell, which acquired photonics startup Celestial AI in December 2025 and is developing silicon photonics for AI networking."
"Nvidia then invested up to $3.2 billion in Corning, the glass and fibre optic manufacturer, through a combination of $500 million in equity warrants and multi-year purchase agreements. Corning will use the funding to increase its US-based optical connectiv"
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