Interview with Sunny Optics' Xiong Guanhao: Rebuilding the Value of Optics with "Optics + AI"

In 2026, AI is moving from cloud-based large models into the physical world. Embodied intelligence, smart vehicles, XR and robotics are heating up fast, and AI no longer merely "thinks"; it increasingly needs to "perceive, connect and act." In this process, optics is no longer just an imaging tool, but is becoming a key gateway for AI to acquire information, understand the world and transmit data.

During CIOE 2026, OFweek Optics had the opportunity to interview Xiong Guanhao, Senior Director of the Strategy and Marketing Department at Sunny Optical Technology Group. Discussing strategic transformation, industry role and organizational change, Mr. Xiong shared his observations and insights.

Strategic Transformation: Optics + AI

At its 2026 Investor Day, Sunny Optical Technology Group formally unveiled its "Optics + AI" strategy, evolving from "imaging and sensing" toward "foundational technology infrastructure for the intelligent era." Xiong Guanhao attributes the core driver of this strategic leap to trends. In his view, the arrival of the AI era may have a deeper impact than previous industrial revolutions. The relationship between light and AI has therefore been redefined: light is the best medium for carrying information, while AI is a new paradigm for processing it. As information carrying and information processing converge deeply within a single new industry, Sunny Optical sees abundant opportunities, and the value boundaries of the optics industry are set for historic expansion.

As large models evolve toward multimodality and embodied intelligence, data from the physical world is becoming a scarce resource, and optics is the most intuitive and information-rich gateway for acquiring that data. Over the past 40 years, Sunny Optical has focused mainly on businesses related to imaging and sensing, helping the industry extend visual capabilities across space and time. In the AI era, optics applications are becoming ever broader, and Sunny Optical needs to open up not just its business boundaries, but a reimagining of the value of optics itself.

The leap from "imaging and sensing" to "Optics + AI" is therefore not a simple layering of concepts, but a fundamental restructuring of the company's value positioning. Light no longer merely lets machines "see"; it must interact deeply with the real physical environment, moving from "seeing clearly" to "understanding." For optics companies, staying confined to traditional imaging could mean missing the gateway opportunity of the physical AI era. Sunny Optical's choice is to embed light at a critical position in the AI industry chain.

Reshaping Roles: AI's Senses and Infrastructure

In the AI industry chain, NVIDIA and Intel define AI's "brain," but the deployment of physical AI clearly cannot do without "senses" and "data." Xiong Guanhao outlined two main threads of Sunny's "Optics + AI" strategy, the first being "intelligent perception for physical AI." Future embodied intelligence or physical agents will need data collection and perception, and visual perception is the most intuitive, information-rich and non-contact approach. Sunny can provide everything from optical components to complete vision solutions, while also delivering robust privacy protection so consumers can trust the system from the sensing front end — no overreaching perception, only precise responses. This means optical companies have the opportunity to move from component supply to defining perception systems.

The second thread is "optics empowering AI infrastructure." Today, the data transmission bottleneck in AI computing is becoming increasingly prominent, and the importance of optical interconnects continues to rise. Sunny is actively positioning itself around "optical interconnects supporting computing power." The company's industrialization of optical interconnects is progressing in an orderly manner, with related products already in validation with domestic customers and small-scale supply expected in 2027; optical computing and optical storage are being developed as long-term technology reserves. Sunny believes that the full-chain synergies built on 40 years of focus on optics position it to play a major role.

Industry analysts believe that, backed by its "Optics + AI" strategy, Sunny is poised to keep unlocking industrial value in this process — moving beyond the ingrained perception of a "lens maker," its place in the AI ecosystem is being redefined. As NVIDIA stands at the core of AI computing supply, further upstream and deeper in the industry chain, Sunny Optical is securing an indispensable link with optical infrastructure built for AI computing power.

Organizational Overhaul: Solutions and Manufacturing in Parallel

Of course, opportunities come with challenges. Optical systems in the AI era are growing rapidly in complexity. Demands on technology, processes, equipment and supply chains have risen sharply, making it difficult for a single subsidiary to incubate solutions and respond quickly to cross-domain opportunities. Sunny has therefore launched a platform-based organizational transformation: centralizing common technologies such as equipment and molds, consolidating scattered capabilities into a reusable platform foundation; bringing in a CTO at the academician level to strengthen frontier technology judgment and the top-level R&D system; and establishing Sunny Capital in Hong Kong to gain priority access to and secure next-generation key technologies through equity ties, and systematically incubate new growth curves — a dual-engine strategy driving both product value and capital value. Together, these measures point to the same goal from three dimensions — platform, technology and capital: building the organizational foundation for delivering the "Optics + AI" strategy.

The deeper purpose of the organizational overhaul is to share capabilities, strengthen the platform, and keep the business side agile. Sunny has turned the core capabilities of its subsidiaries into a platform that serves as a foundation for cross-industry enablement; Sunny Capital, meanwhile, is driving a shift in thinking, from "doing whatever business our capabilities allow" to "doing whatever business the opportunities allow," systematically building a circle of ecosystem partners. Under the "platform + business matrix" management model, the company can achieve resource synergies while preserving the agility of each business.

In addition, during CIOE, Sunny Optics made its debut under a new identity as an "all-scenario, end-to-end intelligent optical system solutions provider." The new brand positioning has three dimensions. First, all-scenario coverage: the business scope extends from consumer electronics and smart vehicles to XR, pan-IoT, precision optics and other diverse fields. Second, end-to-end capability: complete solution delivery spanning optical components, lens modules, system integration and supporting algorithms. Third, an intelligent core: from optical sensing to optical interconnects and on to AI decision-making, turning optical systems from passive "imaging tools" into "sensing systems" that actively participate in intelligent decision-making and closed-loop action.

Addressing market discussion of this positioning upgrade, Xiong Guanhao offered a clear interpretation: "Sunny's upgrade to a system solutions provider is rooted in deep expertise in precision manufacturing of optical components. System solutions and large-scale manufacturing are two capabilities we pursue in parallel."

Summary

From the CIOE booth to the 100 billion yuan target for 2030, Sunny's story is not simple scale expansion, but a proactive evolution for the AI era. Light once enabled machines to "see"; now it is becoming the sensory, data and connectivity foundation through which AI enters the physical world.

What Sunny demonstrates is the strategic awareness of a world-class optical benchmark company in the face of a new technological revolution: rooted in more than 40 years of optical expertise, with "optics + AI" as its wings, advancing manufacturing and solutions in tandem, and aligning platform and ecosystem. 100 billion yuan is not the end; unleashing greater value from light in the AI era is the company's longer-term pursuit.