$Intel(INTC)$ Intel's silicon photonics and OCI work out of Fab 11X in New Mexico is setting a pretty serious standard. In space or inside gigawatt AI data centers, copper just gets too heavy, too hot, and too power-hungry. Intel is the only high-volume manufacturer on Earth growing Indium Phosphide lasers directly onto silicon wafers at scale, and it's all done at Fab 11X in Rio Rancho. They've already deployed over 12 million photonic integrated circuits and 45+ million on-chip lasers with a sub-0.1 FIT failure rate, which matters a lot when you can't send a repairman into space. The OCI chiplet co-packages 4 Tbps bidirectional laser I/O directly onto CPUs, GPUs, and XPUs.
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