Lightmatter says latest photonics will halve DC fiber bill

"A lot of the hyperscalers are very interested in near-package optic (NPO) type solutions for the 2027 timeframe. Some people - I don't know that they're right - are afraid of putting the optical engine in their GPU or in their switch, and they want to see it on its own, right nearby, before they put it inside."

"This concern stems from the fact that co-packaged optics require permanently attaching the photonics to the logic. Just one faulty chip could render a GPU a paperweight. NPO passes this by keeping the photonics off package, but still closer than a pluggable transceiver."

"I don't think that it's going to be a super-long roadmap for near package optics, because, of course, CPO is coming, and we think that's like a 2028 high-volume ramp. This will be the last time that the optical engine and the transceiver are not part of the GPU research."

LightMatter unveiled the Passage L20 optical engine designed for high-performance switches and accelerators, cutting datacenter fiber usage by approximately half. Unlike competitors integrating optics directly into switch ASICs, the L20 uses near-package integration, keeping photonics separate from logic while maintaining close proximity. This approach addresses hyperscaler concerns about co-packaged optics reliability, where a single faulty chip could damage expensive GPUs. The L20 can be integrated onto switch boards or attached as modular mezzanine cards inches away from the compute die. CEO Nick Harris views near-package optics as a transitional solution before full co-packaged optics adoption, expecting high-volume co-packaged optics deployment around 2028.

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