Session 4: Architecting the AI Network

As AI infrastructure scales to increasingly large clusters and tightly coupled compute domains, the optical connectivity roadmap is evolving rapidly. Pluggable transceivers continue to scale in capacity and density, while near-packaged and co-packaged optics are bringing photonics progressively closer to the compute.

This session will explore the evolution from next-generation pluggables to NPO and CPO across both scale-out and emerging optical scale-up architectures. It will examine the trade-offs in bandwidth density, power, integration, serviceability and cost, and consider what must change in manufacturing and the supply chain to deliver these technologies at hyperscale.

Special Program: Industrializing Photonics for AI Infrastructure — From Foundry to High-Volume Manufacturing

As photonics moves deeper into AI infrastructure, the industry's focus is shifting from demonstrating performance to delivering manufacturable technologies at the scale, cost and reliability required for widespread deployment. Across CPO, NPO, OCS, LPO and emerging optical scale-up architectures, success will depend on an increasingly complex manufacturing ecosystem spanning foundries, advanced packaging, automated assembly, fiber connectivity, test and high-volume production.

This special afternoon program will bring together leaders from across the photonics and semiconductor manufacturing value chain to examine how the industry moves from innovation to industrialization. It will explore where manufacturing bottlenecks remain, how foundries and packaging ecosystems must evolve, and what is required to build a resilient, scalable supply chain capable of supporting the next generation of AI infrastructure.

Session 7 – Scaling Integrated Photonics: From Foundry to Advanced Packaging

The ability to manufacture integrated optical technologies at semiconductor scale is becoming increasingly critical. This session will bring together leading foundries to examine how silicon photonics platforms, heterogeneous integration and advanced packaging are evolving to support next-generation optical interconnects. It will explore the path from specialist photonic processes to high-volume manufacturing, including the challenges of yield, process standardization, design enablement, packaging and test, and ask what the foundry ecosystem must deliver to support future AI infrastructure at scale.