On February 20th, STMicroelectronics announced the launch of a new computer chip geared towards the growing AI data center equipment market. Developed in collaboration with Amazon's web services division (AWS), the chip is aimed at meeting the rising demand for specialized computing chips beyond Nvidia's offerings, including those used in memory, power, and communications applications.
ST is focusing on the communications sector with a photonics chip, utilizing light instead of electricity to boost speed and decrease power consumption in transceivers. With the AI data center landscape requiring a significant number of these converters, ST stands poised to deliver on these requirements.
Vincent Fraisse, the general manager of ST's radio and communications chip division, announced a partnership with AWS, underscoring their involvement in the chip's development and planned deployment in their infrastructure upon the technology's upcoming production phase. Additionally, a collaboration with a leading optical solutions provider was mentioned for the integration of the chip in their future transceivers, although the specific company remains undisclosed.
Key transceiver manufacturers include Coherent and Cisco in the U.S. and Innolight and Accelink in China. Research from LightCounting suggests a substantial growth in the market for such devices, from $7 billion in 2024 to a projected $24 billion by 2030.
ST's manufacturing operations for these chips will take place at their facility in Crolles, France.