AI applied to optical design, manufacturing, inspection and inverse design, as well as photonic computing and diffractive neural networks that use light for computation.
Salience Labs, a University of Oxford spinout developing photonic chips for AI data centers, announced GBP 95 million in funding to scale mass production of optical circuit switches and expand its presence in Silicon Valley.
Why we recommend it: The source article explains the positioning of optical circuit switching chips for AI data centers, helping understand where optical switching fits in compute networks
Salience Labs, which develops photonic chips for AI data center interconnects, has closed an oversubscribed USD 125 million Series B round. The company previously demonstrated a 64-port all-optical silicon photonic circuit switch at ECOC 2026.
Why we recommend it: The source article links the funding to the 64-port all-optical switch demonstration at ECOC, helping assess the commercial progress of silicon photonic optical switching
The Ozcan laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles developed a digital-optical hybrid system capable of identifying deepfake videos simultaneously across multiple channels.
Why we recommend it: The original article shows a new application of diffractive optical processors in AI vision tasks, a practical case of optical computing
The Joint Laboratory for High Power Laser and Physics at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) has proposed a laser spot analysis system based on an improved YOLOv8-seg to meet the need for rapid, precise alignment of optics along the full chain of high-power laser facilities, and has completed experimental validation.
Why we recommend it: The original paper demonstrates a deep learning segmentation model for laser facility alignment, a case of AI entering optical assembly and adjustment
Huawei and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, making AI + optics a core focus, with Huawei pledging priority support in computing resources and AI teams. Earlier, on September 17, Huawei unveiled the Ascend 960 superpod using near-package optics (NPO) at Huawei Connect 2026, employing 5,500 in-house Hi-ONE optical engines.
Why we recommend it: The source text places the industry-academia partnership alongside the NPO superpod, showing Huawei's overall strategy in optical interconnects and AI optics
A team led by Peng Xie at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics has made progress in multidimensional multiplexed optical computing, improving the parallelism of optical computing.
Why we recommend it: The original article provides specific data and details that help assess the actual progress in this direction
The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics has made progress in optically accelerated solving of large-spin-scale combinatorial optimization problems.
Why we recommend it: The original article provides specific data and details that help assess the actual progress in this direction.