NEWS
GlobalFoundries( GF) has signed a letter of intent with the US Department of Commerce for a proposed US $ 300 million CHIPS Research and Development award to accelerate next-generation silicon photonics, strengthening domestic innovation for AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.
The funding is expected to support research into advanced optical materials, silicon photonics wafer technologies and packaging innovations, including 3D hybrid bonding. The programme aims to speed development of nearpackaged optics( NPO) and co-packaged optics( CPO), technologies designed to overcome data transfer bottlenecks as AI workloads continue to grow.
The initiative builds on GF’ s recently introduced SCALE silicon photonics platform, which targets 400Gb / s performance with up to five times greater energy efficiency than current-generation solutions. Research will be carried out at the company’ s facilities in Malta, New York and Burlington, Vermont, supporting a
GlobalFoundries secures proposed US $ 300 million CHIPS award to accelerate silicon photonics for AI infrastructure
US-based pathway to large-scale silicon photonics manufacturing.
As part of a separate agreement, the Department of Commerce will receive equity representing approximately one percent ownership in GlobalFoundries, allowing the American public to share in the company’ s future growth.
GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen said silicon photonics had become essential for modern AI infrastructure, marking the industry’ s transition from traditional copper interconnects to optical technologies capable of delivering higher bandwidth and improved power efficiency.
The announcement received support from major technology companies including
AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Corning, Lumentum, Marvell, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Qualcomm, all highlighting silicon photonics as a critical technology for scaling next-generation AI systems, advanced networking and energy-efficient data centres worldwide.
Bristol Myers Squibb builds AI factory with NVIDIA to accelerate drug discovery
Bristol Myers Squibb( BMS) has confirmed plans to build the most powerful AI factory in life sciences by expanding its collaboration with NVIDIA.
The biopharmaceutical company will deploy an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD powered by DGX Vera Rubin NVL72 systems, creating what it described as the most powerful and energy-efficient singleowned NVIDIA infrastructure in the sector.
The investment gives researchers access to significantly greater computing performance while improving energy efficiency, enabling larger AI workloads across oncology, hematology, cardiovascular disease, immunology and neuroscience.
BMS said the new architecture delivers up to ten times more performance per megawatt than previous systems.
Building on nearly three years of collaboration, the platform will support proprietary AI models that automate target identification, accelerate validation and strengthen the company’ s‘ Predict First’ methodology, where AI-generated predictions guide experimental design before laboratory work begins.
BMS said the expanded infrastructure supports its long-term vision of hybrid intelligence, combining AI co-scientists with human researchers to accelerate drug discovery and development. Scientists will use foundation models trained on decades of proprietary research data alongside NVIDIA BioNeMo capabilities to evaluate biological hypotheses, design molecules and improve decision-making throughout development.
Executives from BMS and NVIDIA said the investment would compress discovery timelines, improve research productivity and increase the likelihood of advancing successful medicines into clinical development. The companies believe the enhanced AI infrastructure will help scientists generate higher-confidence insights, reduce manual workloads and speed the delivery of first- and best-inclass therapies for patients worldwide while supporting future advances in precision medicine and biomedical innovation globally. www. intelligentcio. com
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