STMicroelectronics to launch data centre photonics chip developed with Amazon

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AMSTERDAM – STMicroelectronics on Thursday said it is launching a new computer chip targeting the booming market for AI data centre equipment, which it has developed in cooperation with Amazon’s web services arm (AWS).

With top U.S. software firms planning to spend $500 billion on AI infrastructure as part of the Stargate venture, demand is growing not only for the specialised computing chips made by Nvidia but also chips used in memory, power and communications applications.

ST is targeting the communications market with a photonics chip – one that uses light rather than electricity – to increase speed and reduce power consumption in converters known as transceivers, of which hundreds of thousands are needed in an advanced AI data centre.

“We have signed a collaboration agreement with AWS, which has been intimately involved in the development  … and which will deploy this technology in their infrastructure as it reaches production stage later this year,” said Vincent Fraisse, general manager at the company’s radio and communications chip division, at a presentation for journalists.

“We also have an ongoing collaboration with the leading provider of optical solutions, the market leader in pluggable optical transceivers, for them to use (the chip) in their next generation … transceivers,” he added, without disclosing the name of the company. 

Top transceiver makers include Coherent and Cisco of the United States and Innolight and Accelink of China.

According to research firm LightCounting, the market for such devices was $7 billion in 2024 and it will quadruple to $24 billion by 2030.

ST will mass produce the chips at its factory in Crolles, France.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)