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 spin-out developing photonic chips for AI data centers, has announced £95 million in funding to scale production of optical circuit switches and expand its presence in Silicon Valley.
Why we recommend it: The original 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 $125 million Series B round. The company previously demonstrated a 64-port all-optical silicon photonic circuit switch live at ECOC 2026.
Why we recommend it: The original article links the funding to the demonstration of a 64-port all-optical switch at ECOC, helping gauge commercial progress in silicon photonic optical switching
In an interview, NVision CTO Ilai Schwartz explains that the company is betting on chemically designed photonic interconnects, which it believes will make modular quantum computing hardware scalable, with a single chip potentially holding up to 100,000 molecular qubits.
A team from the Ozcan lab at the University of California, Los Angeles has developed a digital-optical hybrid system that can identify deepfake videos simultaneously across multiple channels.
Why we recommend it: The source article presents a new application of a diffractive optical processor for AI vision tasks, illustrating a practical use case for optical computing
The Joint Laboratory for High Power Laser Physics at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) has proposed a beam-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 work presents an engineering case of deep-learning segmentation models applied to laser facility alignment, illustrating AI entering optical assembly and alignment
Huawei and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, with AI+optics as a core focus. Huawei has pledged to prioritize computing resources and AI teams for the effort. 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 original text places the industry-academia partnership alongside the NPO superpod, revealing Huawei's overall strategy in optical interconnect and AI optics
Xie Peng's team at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) 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 actual progress in this direction
SIOM 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 actual progress in this direction
The Xi'an Institute of Optics and Mechanics and Northwest A&F University have combined AI with optical micromanipulation to achieve precise microparticle transport.
Turing Quantum, a photonic quantum computing company, announced on January 27 that it had completed a Series B financing round worth several hundred million yuan. Investors include Sichuan Provincial Industry Revitalization Group, Toukong Donghai, Fosun Capital and SenseTime, among others. HIOM participated in its angel round. The funds will go toward developing practical quantum computers, tackling core technologies and building up R&D talent. The original article says Turing Quantum has achieved mass-producible, scalable and programmable integrated photonic quantum chip manufacturing based on thin-film lithium niobate materials.