Hardware
PsiQuantum Demonstrates 8x8 Optical Circuit Switch for AI Data Centers
PsiQuantum has unveiled an 8x8-radix optical circuit switching demonstration built on the low-loss silicon photonics platform it has developed for nearly a decade for utility-scale quantum computing. The company says lab testing showed typical results of 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk and reconfiguration in under 3 ms, without amplification, all exceeding its initial targets. PsiQuantum is sharing samples with select prospective customers and says commercial products will be announced in the coming months. The company also says it has developed barium titanate (BTO) integration at 300mm wafer scale and uses a 64x64 BTO switch in its quantum systems, though BTO is not needed for this demonstration or the initial products.
Why it mattersPsiQuantum says moving data between large pools of AI compute is becoming a constraint on AI scaling, and the company is applying technology built for quantum computing to that problem. It says it will continue its work toward fault-tolerant quantum computers alongside the new effort.