CONFIRMED: joint press release from Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning, 12 October 2026. This is a proof-of-concept demonstration, not a product that is on sale.
Three companies that make parts for AI data centres say they will show a way to carry one of computing’s most common connections over light instead of copper wire.
Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning announced on Monday a joint demonstration of “PCIe-over-optics” connectivity for AI rack-scale systems at the 2026 OCP Global Summit in San Jose, California [1]. The demo is at Astera Labs’ booth #B34 from 12 to 15 October [1].
What is being shown
The setup combines three pieces [1]:
- Astera Labs’ Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch, a chip that routes PCIe traffic between devices.
- Lumentum’s 1060 nm VCSEL-based optical interconnect platform, which turns electrical signals into light and back.
- Corning multimode fibre, the glass cabling that carries the light.
“The proof-of-concept system is designed to demonstrate multiple 32 Gb/s NRZ optical channels over Corning multimode fiber and an error-free PCIe-5 link,” the companies said [1]. In plain terms: several parallel light channels, each carrying 32 gigabits per second using a simple on/off signalling method (NRZ), together running a fifth-generation PCIe connection without data errors.
The jargon, explained
PCIe (PCI Express) is the standard connection that links processors to other hardware inside a computer: graphics and AI chips, network cards, storage. In AI servers it ties GPUs and accelerators to CPUs and switches. It normally runs over copper traces and cables.
Copper vs optics. As AI racks pack in more chips running at higher speeds, copper struggles. Electrical signals weaken over distance, so copper links get short, thick and power-hungry, and heat and cable bulk pile up. Light in fibre travels further with less signal loss and thinner cables. The release says carrying PCIe over many parallel optical channels is meant to help with “reach, cable density, signal integrity, power, and thermal constraints” that limit electrical links as AI systems grow [1]. The trade-off is that optics add components (lasers, detectors) that have to be cheap and reliable enough.
VCSELs (vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers) are tiny lasers that shine light straight up off a chip’s surface. They are cheap to make in large numbers and are already widely used for short-reach data links and in phones’ face-recognition sensors. 1060 nm is the wavelength of the light: near-infrared, longer than the 850 nm common in today’s short-reach links.
How Lumentum builds it
The optical part uses “high-density 1060 nm VCSEL and photodetector arrays implemented with advanced packaging, including two-dimensional arrays with backside lens technology,” according to the release [1]. Photodetectors are the receivers that turn light back into electrical signals; laying them out in 2D grids packs many channels into a small area.
Lumentum says the platform is built on its “ultra-high-volume manufacturing platform in 3D sensing for smartphone devices” [1]: the same kind of VCSEL production it uses for phone depth sensors, which is the company’s case for being able to make these at scale.
What the companies say
“AI infrastructure is pushing optical connectivity closer to the compute system where reach, density, and power represent significant challenges,” said Matt Sysak, Lumentum’s chief technology officer. “This demonstration with Astera Labs and Corning shows how Lumentum’s 1060 nm VCSEL platform can extend PCIe connectivity and unlock a whole new class of functionality” [1].
Adit Narasimha, senior vice president of Astera Labs’ Signal Connectivity Group, said: “This demonstration shows how VCSEL-based front-end optics are enabled by Astera Labs’ Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch and COSMOS link intelligence to deliver lower latency, improve power efficiency, increase bandwidth density, and overcome connectivity bottlenecks across rack-scale AI systems” [1]. COSMOS is Astera’s software suite for managing and monitoring its connectivity chips.
Corning’s Claude Echahamian said fibre connectivity “must support increasing density, precision, and scalability” as optical links move closer to compute devices, pointing to Corning’s multimode fibre and MMC connectors [1].
What is not known
- This is a demonstration system. The companies have not announced a product, price, customers or shipping date.
- “Error-free” and the other performance points are what the demo is designed to show; no independent test results have been published.
- The release gives no figures for power savings or latency compared with copper.
Sources
- Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning, “Lumentum, Astera Labs, and Corning to Demonstrate 1060 nm VCSEL-Based PCIe over Optics for AI Rack-Scale Connectivity at the 2026 OCP Global Summit”, Business Wire via Lumentum Investor Relations, 12 October 2026. https://investor.lumentum.com/financial-news-releases/news-details/2026/Lumentum-Astera-Labs-and-Corning-to-Demonstrate-1060-nm-VCSEL-Based-PCIe-over-Optics-for-AI-Rack-Scale-Connectivity-at-the-2026-OCP-Global-Summit/default.aspx
