Lightmatter is poised to revolutionize AI infrastructure with the introduction of its Guide light engine, powered by a new Very Large Scale Photonics (VLSP) laser architecture. Announced January 26, 2026, this breakthrough moves laser manufacturing toward foundry production, promising unprecedented bandwidths and scalability for co-packaged optics (CPO). The Guide engine achieves an initial 8X increase in optical bandwidth density, enabling 100 Tbps of switch bandwidth within a compact 1RU chassis – a feat currently requiring 18 conventional modules occupying four times the rack space. “Our customers are building infrastructure for MoE and world models at scales that demand semiconductor-grade integration everywhere—including the light source,” said Nick Harris, co-founder and CEO of Lightmatter. “Scalable lasers unlock scalable CPO. Guide delivers massive bandwidth density through integration.”
Very Large Scale Photonics (VLSP) Enables New Laser Architecture
A fundamental shift in laser technology is underway, driven by Lightmatter’s introduction of Very Large Scale Photonics (VLSP), a new approach to integrated laser design. This innovation addresses a critical bottleneck in artificial intelligence infrastructure: the limitations of current optical interconnects, which are hampered by the performance of the lasers powering them. Traditional co-packaged optics (CPO) and near-package optics (NPO) rely on discrete indium phosphide (InP) laser diodes, but these face a “power wall” where even minor contamination can cause fiber damage at relatively low power levels.
Doubling bandwidth with this method necessitates doubling the number of modules, increasing costs and reducing reliability. Lightmatter’s VLSP technology, embodied in the Guide light engine, bypasses these constraints through large-scale photonic integration. “Scalable lasers unlock scalable CPO,” explains Nick Harris, co-founder and CEO of Lightmatter. This density improvement is achieved by reducing component counts and enhancing yields through an integrated architecture, allowing for efficient scaling from 1 to 64 wavelengths and beyond.
The implications extend beyond mere bandwidth gains; Jean-Christophe Eloy, Founder and President of Yole Group, notes that “Lightmatter’s VLSP innovation represents a fundamental shift in how we power optical interconnects.” The Guide light engine currently generates 16 wavelengths with multiplexing and delivers a minimum of 100 milliwatts per fiber, showcasing high bandwidth density and optical output power, and is currently sampling with strategic partners.
Overcoming Power Limitations in Current Co-Packaged Optics
Traditional architectures utilizing these lasers within External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) modules are vulnerable to thermal damage, with light absorption from contamination potentially causing fiber damage at relatively low power levels—as little as hundreds of milliwatts. This restricts the ability to simply increase optical power to achieve higher bandwidth, creating a scaling bottleneck for AI infrastructure. Consequently, doubling bandwidth presently requires doubling the number of ELSFP modules, inflating costs, power consumption, and impacting overall system reliability. By shifting from discrete components to a fully integrated architecture, VLSP dramatically reduces component counts and enhances manufacturing yields. “Scalable lasers unlock scalable CPO.
Guide Light Engine Achieves 100 Tbps Bandwidth in 1RU Chassis
Lightmatter’s newly unveiled Guide light engine is achieving a landmark 100 terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth within a single 1RU (rack unit) chassis, a density previously unattainable in AI infrastructure. This leap forward stems from the company’s Very Large Scale Photonics (VLSP) technology, which fundamentally alters laser manufacturing by shifting from manual assembly toward automated foundry production. These discrete lasers are vulnerable to thermal damage, restricting the ability to increase optical power for higher bandwidths; “doubling the bandwidth today requires doubling the number of ELSFPs,” according to Lightmatter.
The Guide engine circumvents this “power wall” by integrating numerous wavelengths into a single module, delivering 51.2 Tbps per laser module for both NPO and CPO applications, and generating 16 wavelengths with multiplexing. This integrated architecture not only boosts density—the initial validation platform requires approximately 18 fewer conventional modules, reducing rack space from 4RU to 1RU—but also enhances reliability and wavelength stability.
Its level of photonic integration provides a scalable light source that can enable hyperscale CPO deployments over the next decade, addressing a laser market opportunity that alone rivals the scale of the optical engine segment.
Jean-Christophe Eloy, Founder and President of Yole Group
