Nvidia is diving into the world of optical data transmission, but don’t expect to see it in their GPUs just yet. CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that while the tech boasts superior energy efficiency and speed, it’s not quite reliable enough for Nvidia’s flagship products, as stated during the company’s annual developer conference.
Co-packaged optics, which transmit data between chips using laser light, still lag significantly behind traditional copper connections in terms of reliability. Huang described copper as “orders of magnitude” more dependable, making it the go-to choice for Nvidia’s high-stakes GPU operations.
Nvidia isn’t sidelining optical tech entirely. The company plans to roll out two new networking chips, designed for server switches, later this year and in 2026. These chips will leverage co-packaged optics to deliver a hefty 3.5 times boost in energy efficiency compared to their predecessors. This move indicates a strategic, focused application, acknowledging that reliability needs might differ from those of their top-tier GPUs.
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Last week, Nvidia unveiled its Quantum-X and Spectrum-X networking switches. These products push silicon photonics, blending of optical communications with electronic circuits, providing large-scale, efficient connections between lots of GPUs, driving cost and energy savings.
- Nvidia claims these optics innovations offer:
- Less lasers: 4x fewer lasers.
- More effciency: 3.5x more power efficiency.
- Greater signal: 63x greater signal integrity.
- Better network: 10x better network resiliency at scale.
- Faster deployment: 1.3x faster deployment than traditional methods.
“AI factories are a new class of data centers with extreme scale, and networking infrastructure must be reinvented to keep pace,” Huang stated. He emphasized that integrating silicon photonics into switches positions the company to pave the way for “million-GPU AI factories.”
The tech industry’s gradual shift toward optical technology stems from the persistent headaches of power consumption and heat generation with copper. Mark Wade, CEO of Ayar Labs, mentioned to Reuters that fully transitioning to co-packaged optics might take until 2028 or later. He pointed that, “Optics is the only technology that gets you off of that train,” referring to the escalating power demands of electrically-connected servers.
