Lightmatter CEO on moving lasers to 300mm silicon lines for AI interconnect
BenBajarin · x · 2026-10-16
Analyst Ben Bajarin publishes a deep (paid) interview with Lightmatter founder and CEO Nick Harris on optical interconnect manufacturing for AI compute:
- Demand is the easy part—copper hits physical limits as link speeds rise and scale-up domains grow; the hard question is whether the supply chain can ship qualified optical engines at repeatable yield.
- Harris's differentiated bet: most commercial lasers are made on small indium phosphide wafers by a handful of suppliers; Lightmatter argues more of that work can move onto 300mm silicon at mature CMOS foundries, opening a new path to laser capacity if it holds at volume.
- Also covers the NPO-to-CPO transition and how Lightmatter designs around the reliability of thousands of optical links.
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