Coherent Receives up to $50 Million in Direct Funding to Expand AI Photonic Chip Production Capacity

Odaily Planet Daily News Coherent announced the signing of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce to receive up to $50 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. This funding is intended to expand advanced manufacturing capacity for AI photonic chips. Coherent stated that this expansion will strengthen the domestic photonic chip supply chain in the United States, support the high-speed data transmission demands of AI computing infrastructure, alleviate communication bottlenecks caused by large-scale AI computing, and collaborate with NVIDIA to drive the upgrade of optical networks and interconnect technologies aimed at AI "data center factories." Previously, NVIDIA announced a $2 billion investment in Coherent. (Semiconductor-Today)