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The semiconductor partners are deepening their work on silicon photonics as AI data centers push the limits of traditional copper connections.
GlobalFoundries and Marvell Technology are widening their partnership on optical connectivity, a move that underscores how urgently the semiconductor industry is racing to solve one of AI’s most stubborn infrastructure bottlenecks: moving data fast enough between chips without melting the power budget.
The two companies have been collaborating on silicon photonics since at least 2022, when GlobalFoundries first showcased Marvell’s integration of its silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology into optical components. The expanded collaboration targets next-generation optical interconnects designed specifically for AI-centric data centers, where traditional copper links are increasingly becoming the weakest link in the chain.
Why copper can’t keep up #
Both GlobalFoundries and Marvell are targeting 400G-per-lane optics with power consumption below 5 picojoules per bit, a threshold that would represent a meaningful improvement over current architectures.
GlobalFoundries has been developing its SCALE silicon photonics platform, which focuses on co-packaged optics (CPO). CPO places optical components directly alongside the processor die rather than connecting them via separate modules. This shortens the distance data travels before converting from electrical to optical signals, cutting latency and power waste.
Marvell’s optical ambitions #
In 2019, Marvell acquired Avera Semiconductor for $650 million to bolster its custom ASIC capabilities. Then in December 2025, Marvell made a much larger bet by acquiring Celestial AI for approximately $3.25 billion, a deal squarely aimed at expanding its optical interconnect portfolio.
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The company has projected revenue of roughly $12 billion for fiscal year 2027 and approximately $18 billion for fiscal year 2028, with data-center interconnect growth exceeding 70% year-over-year serving as the main engine behind those numbers.
Government backing and the broader race #
GlobalFoundries signed a letter of intent for a $300 million grant from the US Department of Commerce, earmarked for research and development in advanced semiconductor technologies including silicon photonics.
GlobalFoundries occupies an unusual position in the foundry world. Unlike TSMC, which pursues the bleeding edge of transistor density, GF has carved out a strategy around differentiated technologies like SiGe, RF, and now silicon photonics. These aren’t the processes that manufacture the latest iPhone chips, but they’re increasingly critical for the analog and mixed-signal components that optical interconnects require.
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