{"slug": "chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia", "title": "Chinese chip start-up Biren bets on light-based ‘supernodes’ to match Nvidia", "summary": "Chinese chip design firm Biren Technology unveiled next-generation 'supernode' solutions using near-packaged optics to link over 1,000 AI chips across a cluster, bypassing traditional copper-wired limits. The launch highlights the race among AI infrastructure companies to scale computing power for trillion-parameter models and AI agents, as Biren aims to challenge Nvidia's dominance.", "body_md": "# Chinese chip start-up Biren bets on light-based ‘supernodes’ to match Nvidia\n\nThe firm uses near-packaged optics to bypass traditional architecture limits and scale more than 1,000 processor cards across a cluster\n\n[Ann Cao](/author/ann-cao)in Shanghai\n\nChinese semiconductor design firm Biren Technology has unveiled its next-generation “supernode” solutions – systems designed to link thousands of AI chips across a single cluster – by using optical data transmission to bypass current hardware limits.\n\nThe launch underscores how these highly connected server systems have become one of the latest battlegrounds for AI infrastructure companies. The industry is currently racing to scale up raw computing power as artificial intelligence models advance to trillions of parameters and AI agent applications gain widespread adoption.\n\n[Biren](https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3359528/chinas-biren-seeks-us900m-fund-gpu-push-and-challenge-nvidia-amid-ai-boom?module=inline&pgtype=article), said single-graphics processing unit (GPU) performance was no longer sufficient to handle required workloads. The core challenge, he stressed, was transforming massive GPU clusters into integrated, seamless systems.\n\n[2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC)](https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3360870/top-takeaways-xi-jinpings-opening-address-world-ai-conference-shanghai?module=inline&pgtype=article)in Shanghai on Friday, Ding noted that traditional copper-wired electrical connections were hitting a physical wall, effectively restricting current architectures to 128 GPUs per server.\n\nTo break through that ceiling, Biren is betting on a distributed, decoupled supernode architecture and near-packaged optics (NPO), which integrates optical fibres closer to chips to boost data speeds. The layout could allow Biren to scale up to 1,024 cards across a cluster.\n\n“Optical interconnect has become an inevitable choice to break through this bottleneck,” Ding said.\n\nShanghai-based Biren is only the latest domestic player to announce progress in addressing infrastructure limitations.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3361040/chinese-chip-start-biren-bets-light-based-supernodes-match-nvidia?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-07-18 08:00:23+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-18 08:04:44.813502+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Biren Technology", "Nvidia", "Ding", "Shanghai"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-chip-start-up-biren-bets-on-light-based-supernodes-to-match-nvidia.jsonld"}}