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Europe is scaling photonic-chip production, while Ericsson, Thales and others develop applications. The missing step is a European customer willing to commit to volume. Can system design become the long-term demand that sustains an industry?
Grenoble already has silicon photonics in volume production, while CEA-Leti works to bring the next generation closer to industry. The strategic question is whether Europe can shape the AI systems that rely on its chips.
Europe’s photonics sector is approaching its industrial test. As Eindhoven expands wafer capacity and SMART Photonics partners with GlobalFoundries, the challenge shifts from proving chips can work to deciding who controls production, integration and value at scale.
Integrated photonics is moving from research laboratories into commercial deployment. This briefing explores why manufacturing capacity may become one of Europe’s most important strategic assets and how SMART Photonics is helping transform scientific innovation into industrial capability.
As artificial intelligence systems scale to unprecedented levels, the real bottleneck is no longer computing power but data movement. Silicon photonics promises faster, cooler communication between chips—yet the industry still faces a critical challenge: manufacturing optical hardware reliably at massive scale.
AI chips are hitting physical limits, forcing the semiconductor industry to rethink how processors are built. As architectures shift from single chips to stacked “silicon skyscrapers” advanced packaging is emerging as the next critical frontier in the race for AI computing power.
