TSMC working with NVIDIA and Broadcom: 200 new R&D experts for silicon photonics

TSMC is working directly with NVIDIA and Broadcom to super-speed R&D efforts into the next step in the semiconductor industry: silicon photonics.

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First, what are silicon photonics? The semiconductor industry is moving into the world of silicon photonics as its next-gen approach to traditional copper transmission cables, which sees the combination of laser and silicon technology that pumps high data transfer speeds. Silicon photonics will have conventional "electricity" delivery with light, meaning we're in for a world of seamless, quicker, secure transmission.

ChinaTimes reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- TSMC -- pumping 200 new R&D specialists into the arms of silicon photonics use in the AI industry. This is why TSMC is teaming with NVIDIA and Broadcam, as the Taiwanese giant is currently walking into Compact Universal Photo Engine (COUPE) that will usher in an energy-efficient solution that will be the big push into its large-scale adoption. GlobalFoundries is also working on silicon photonics, but TSMC is ahead of GlobalFoundries... which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows how much further ahead TSMC is above the competition.

Why is the future silicon photonics? Well, we all know that AI hardware is the future and NVIDIA leads that by a large, large margin. The future of silicon photonics is something the industry needs to do in order to continue to push the hardware envelope of AI, and while silicon photonics isn't here yet, TSMC teaming with NVIDIA and Broadcom is a huge deal.

A big enough deal that silicon photonics could have a global value of $7.8 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 25% it's no surprise.