Ayar Labs Unveils World’s First UCIe Optical Chiplet to Revolutionize AI Scale-Up Architectures
In a groundbreaking development for the artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industries, Ayar Labs, a leader in optical interconnect solutions, has announced the world’s first Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express™ (UCIe™) optical interconnect chiplet. This innovation is set to transform AI infrastructure by delivering unparalleled performance, efficiency, and scalability while addressing critical challenges such as latency, power consumption, and data bottlenecks.
The new TeraPHY™ optical I/O chiplet, powered by Ayar Labs’ advanced 16-wavelength SuperNova™ light source, achieves an impressive 8 terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth. By incorporating a UCIe electrical interface, this solution seamlessly integrates into customer chip designs, enabling interoperability among chiplets from different vendors. This compatibility with the UCIe standard creates a more accessible and cost-effective ecosystem, accelerating the adoption of advanced optical technologies essential for scaling AI workloads and overcoming the limitations of traditional copper interconnects.
Solving Power Density Challenges in AI Scale-Up Architectures
“Optical interconnects are needed to solve power density challenges in scale-up AI fabrics,” said Mark Wade, CEO and co-founder of Ayar Labs. “We recognized early on the potential for co-packaged optics, which positioned us to drive adoption of optical solutions in AI applications. As we continue to push the boundaries of optical technologies, we’re also bringing together the supply chain, manufacturing, and testing and validation processes needed for customers to deploy these solutions at scale.”
Ayar Labs has pioneered the integration of silicon photonics with CMOS manufacturing processes, enabling the use of optical interconnects in a chiplet form factor within multi-chip packages. This breakthrough allows GPUs and other accelerators to communicate across a wide range of distances—from millimeters to kilometers—while functioning effectively as a single, giant GPU. The result is a dramatic improvement in compute density, energy efficiency, and system-level performance, all of which are critical for meeting the demands of large-scale AI workloads.
Transforming AI System Architectures with Optical I/O
To showcase its revolutionary optical interconnect solutions, Ayar Labs will be presenting at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), held from March 30 to April 3, 2025, in San Francisco. Visitors to Ayar Labs’ booth (#2958) will have the opportunity to explore how the company’s optical I/O technology is transforming system-level implementations for AI scale-up architectures.
Additionally, attendees can visit the Jabil booth (#5845) to see a model of Jabil’s external laser source array for Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), featuring 64 Ayar Labs SuperNova light sources. This innovative design powers up to 1 petabit per second of bi-directional bandwidth, enabling greater compute density per rack, enhanced cooling efficiency, and hot-swap capability to minimize server downtime.
For those interested in learning more about Ayar Labs’ activities at OFC, detailed information is available on the OFC web page.
Industry Leaders Endorse Ayar Labs’ Breakthrough
The announcement has garnered widespread support from key industry players and members of the UCIe Consortium, highlighting the significance of this milestone:
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD):
“As the leader in chiplet technology, we are proud to continue our long history of supporting industry standards that drive innovation forward,” said Mark Papermaster, CTO and Executive Vice President of AMD. “The robust, open, and vendor-neutral chiplet ecosystem provided by UCIe is critical to meeting the challenge of scaling networking solutions to deliver on the full potential of AI. We’re excited that Ayar Labs is one of the first deployments leveraging the UCIe platform to its full extent.” - Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE):
“Our ecosystem is deeply immersed in developing interoperable chiplet solutions to support the rapid progress toward tomorrow’s AI infrastructure,” said Dr. CP Hung, Vice President of R&D at ASE, Inc. “UCIe is playing a significant role, and through fostering interoperability and collaboration, it is driving standards that elevate efficiency and performance. ASE commends Ayar Labs’ contribution to the CPO momentum with the world’s first UCIe optical I/O chiplet.” - Alphawave Semi:
“This groundbreaking achievement will be the first instance of multi-vendor, multi-foundry UCIe subsystem silicon interoperability targeted for optical connectivity,” said Letizia Giuliano, Vice President of Product Marketing and Management at Alphawave Semi. “The seamless integration with our AlphaCHIP1600-IO will eliminate data bottlenecks and enhance system efficiency built on a foundation of our best-in-class low-latency and power-efficient UCIe IP.” - d-Matrix:
“Optical connectivity is critical to solving network bottlenecks as we scale out our compute accelerators,” said Sid Sheth, Founder & CEO of d-Matrix. “The chiplet ecosystem depends on open standards and accessible products, and we are excited to see Ayar Labs bring the first UCIe optical chiplet to market.” - GlobalFoundries:
“As the industry transitions to a chiplet-based approach, the UCIe interface is rapidly becoming a de facto standard,” said Kevin Soukup, Senior Vice President of GlobalFoundries’ Silicon Photonics Product Line. “We are excited to see Ayar Labs demonstrating the UCIe standard over an optical interface, uniquely enabled by our monolithic GF Fotonix™ platform.” - TSMC:
“The availability of UCIe optical chiplets will foster a strong ecosystem, ultimately driving broader adoption and continued innovation across the industry,” said Lucas Tsai, Vice President of Business Management at TSMC North America. “TSMC will continue partnering with innovators like Ayar Labs to deliver CPO solutions with our silicon photonics technology.” - UCIe Consortium:
“The advancement of the UCIe standard marks significant progress toward creating more integrated and efficient AI infrastructure,” said Dr. Debendra Das Sharma, Chair of the UCIe Consortium. “It is incredibly encouraging to see Ayar Labs contribute to this momentum with its UCIe optical I/O chiplet.”
A New Era for AI Infrastructure
With its groundbreaking UCIe optical chiplet, Ayar Labs is paving the way for a new era of AI infrastructure. By addressing the limitations of traditional copper interconnects and enabling seamless integration across diverse chiplet ecosystems, the company is empowering organizations to scale their AI capabilities like never before.
As demand for high-performance computing continues to grow, Ayar Labs’ innovations in optical interconnects offer a clear path forward. By combining cutting-edge technology with industry collaboration, the company is not only revolutionizing AI system architectures but also driving the broader adoption of sustainable, energy-efficient solutions.
To learn more about Ayar Labs’ transformative optical I/O solutions and their impact on AI scale-up architectures, visit their website or attend their presentations at OFC 2025.
Experience the future of AI infrastructure with Ayar Labs—where optical innovation meets limitless possibilities.
About Ayar Labs
Ayar Labs is the leader in optical interconnect solutions that move data at the speed of AI. Recognizing that the complexity and size of AI models are increasing at a rate that traditional interconnect technology cannot handle, the company has developed the industry’s first optical I/O solution that enables customers to maximize the compute efficiency and performance of growing AI infrastructure, while reducing costs, latency, and power consumption. Based on open standards and optimized for both AI training and inference, Ayar Labs’ optical interconnect solutions are backed by a robust ecosystem that enables it to integrate smoothly into AI systems at scale. Ayar Labs was founded in 2015 and is funded by domestic and international venture capital firms, as well as strategic investors including AMD, GlobalFoundries, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Intel Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and NVIDIA. For more information, visit www.ayarlabs.com.
