📅 October 30, 2026. Source: Tom's Hardware.
PsiQuantum, a company better known for photonic quantum computing, has unveiled an all-optical circuit switch aimed at AI data centers. In company-reported lab tests the 8x8 prototype typically loses only 1.2 dB fiber to fiber, before connector losses of light from fiber to fiber, compared with the 3 dB loss that data-center optics are normally designed to tolerate, and it achieves this without built-in amplification. Tom's Hardware covered the announcement on October 30.
How it works
The device passes light between fibers with no electrical conversion at all. It is built on etched silicon circuits and contains no moving parts, unlike the mechanical designs used in some rival switches. With no moving parts, the design avoids the mechanical trade-offs of MEMS-based alternatives. Optical circuit switching matters for AI clusters because it lets operators reconfigure which groups of GPUs communicate with each other without converting signals to electricity and back, reducing the power, amplification and latency that conventional re-cabling would require. In large training environments, network topologies often need to change as workloads change, and an optical switch can redraw those connections quickly.
Where it stands
The current prototype has 8 inputs and 8 outputs, which places it well behind competitors on port count. Google's MEMS-based Palomar switch reaches 136 ports, Lumentum offers 300, and Salience Labs has demonstrated 32. PsiQuantum says larger switches are in development, so the 8x8 device should be read as a technology demonstration rather than a shipping product. The low loss figure is nonetheless notable, because signal loss directly determines how far optical links can run and how much amplification a network needs.
IMPACT
For data-center and network engineers, the result addresses a genuine constraint: every decibel of loss saved reduces the amplification, power and cabling needed to rewire GPU clusters, which translates into lower operating costs and simpler physical design. If PsiQuantum can scale the port count while keeping the 1.2 dB figure, operators of large AI clusters would gain another option for reconfiguring topologies between training runs. Teams making infrastructure decisions today should treat this as early-stage technology, since an 8-port lab prototype is at least several quarters away from production relevance, and established vendors already ship switches with far higher port counts. Procurement and compliance teams evaluating photonic components should also watch how silicon-photonics supply chains fit into existing export-control and dual-use screening practices as the category matures.
Sources: tomshardware.com, psiquantum.com
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