16 March 2026
Lightmatter Announces Reference Architecture Initiative with Industry Leaders in the Open Compute Project for CPO
Open specification and ecosystem collaboration aims to facilitate AI infrastructure transition to integrated optics for hyperscalers
Mountain View, Calif. – March 16, 2026 – Lightmatter, today announced a new collaborative initiative within the Open Compute Project (OCP) to create open specifications for a shared reference architecture enabling interoperable Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) in next-generation AI systems. The announcement, in conjunction with the submission of a white paper titled "Open Collaboration for CPO-Enabled AI Systems," will initiate the project.This proposal underscores Lightmatter’s commitment to advancing AI infrastructure in open collaboration with ecosystem leaders, including Celestica, Corning Incorporated, Dell Technologies, Inc., Flex, Foxconn Interconnect Technology, Hyve Solutions, Keysight, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and Quanta Cloud Technology.
The exponential increase in AI workloads has exposed a critical bottleneck in electrical interconnects, which is now driving the industry toward CPO solutions to scale next-generation AI infrastructure. CPO offers a solution by integrating photonics directly with silicon, providing massive increases in bandwidth that contribute to large gains in compute, power and space efficiency. However, the complexity of CPO systems presents challenges around integration, interoperability, reliability and scaling across a diverse supply chain. This project directly addresses the need for collaborative open standards that will enable a robust ecosystem, high-volume production and seamless integration of CPO in hyperscale data centers.
"The AI revolution is at a pivotal moment, and we must ensure interoperable solutions that can be produced and deployed at scale across the industry’s diverse ecosystem," said Nick Harris, Ph.D., Founder and CEO at Lightmatter. "We believe the answer is in open collaboration. By working with the OCP community, we can define the standards that will unlock the full potential of CPO, enabling a vibrant ecosystem across the hyperscaler supply chain. We are already seeing strong support from industry leaders who recognize the urgency of this effort."
This collaboration proposes to bring together AI system architects, advanced manufacturing partners, and networking leaders to align on a shared vision and roadmap for CPO. The goal is to develop open standards for components and systems and to establish a framework for interoperability testing and certification.
The rapid growth of AI workloads is creating immense pressure on the entire data center stack, with the interconnect fabric emerging as a major bottleneck," said Sameh Boujelbene, Vice President, Market Research at Dell'Oro Group. "The industry has long recognized the critical role of Co-Packaged Optics in addressing power, performance, and density challenges. An open, collaborative initiative like the one proposed by Lightmatter is crucial to bridging the technological and supply chain gaps that have hindered widespread adoption, accelerating the path to next-generation AI infrastructure."
This initiative is already generating significant interest and support among leading ecosystem vendors and experts who recognize the importance of open, interoperable CPO-enabled AI infrastructure. (For quotes, please see full press release.)
To learn more or to join this Open Collaboration for CPO-Enabled AI Systems project, please contact our team at ecosystem@lightmatter.co.
Media Contact:
Lightmatter
Katie Maller
press@lightmatter.co