Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet have invested in an optical switch startup, demonstrating their aggressive pursuit of cutting-edge AI infrastructure technologies.
nEye Systems announced today that it has secured $58 million in a Series B funding round.
The round was spearheaded by CapitalG, Alphabet’s venture fund, with participation from MS’s venture fund M12, Nvidia, Micron Ventures, and Socratic Partners.
Founded in 2020, nEye Systems specializes in optical switch technology. These switches can selectively route light signals between circuits, offering a solution to the power consumption and bandwidth constraints faced by traditional AI infrastructure reliant on electrical switches. This emerging technology is garnering attention for its speed and cost-effectiveness.
According to the company, its optical switches are dramatically more efficient- 100 times smaller, consuming 1,000 times less power, operating 10,000 times faster, and costing just 10% of current alternatives. These metrics could mark a paradigm shift in architecting data centers and high-performance computing systems.
Ming Wu, co-founder of nEye Systems, stated that this investment provides a foundation for revolutionizing AI fabric and enabling next-generation high-performance computing.
James Luo, a general partner at CapitalG, emphasized “the potential of nEye Systems’ technology to dramatically improve AI infrastructure efficiency and scalability. He noted that their innovative approach addresses critical bottlenecks in data centers and high-performance computing environments.”