PsiQuantum shows its first optical circuit switch built for AI data centres

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PsiQuantum is putting its quantum technology to work on a more immediate market. The Quantum Insider reports that the photonic quantum computing company has shown its first public optical circuit switching device, aimed at AI data centres

The demonstration unit is an eight by eight switch built on the low loss silicon photonics platform PsiQuantum has spent about a decade developing for its quantum computers. Optical circuit switches route light between servers without converting it to electrical signals, which can save power in large AI clusters

PsiQuantum's lab figures are 1.2 dB of insertion loss, 40 dB of crosstalk isolation and reconfiguration in under three milliseconds, all without optical amplification. The company says these beat its own initial targets. Samples are going to selected potential customers, with commercial products to be announced in the coming months

Inside its quantum systems, PsiQuantum uses a much larger 64 by 64 switch based on barium titanate, which it now makes on 300mm wafers. The demonstration unit and first products do not need that material. Chief executive Victor Peng said the company chose to solve the hardest scaling problems at the start of its roadmap, and executive vice president Rob Soderbery said the platform can deliver exceptional performance for AI computing

Selling spin off technology to the AI industry is a smart way to earn revenue while the full quantum computer is still being built. The figures are company claims and have not been independently checked, and no prices have been given. If customers like the samples, it could become a useful business in its own right

Is selling photonics to AI data centres a smart move for a quantum company? And could this become bigger than PsiQuantum's quantum business in the short term?

PsiQuantum Unveils Optical Circuit Switch for AI Data Centersthequantuminsider.com