AI TRENDS | Coherent Signs Letter of Intent With U.S. Commerce Department for Up to $50 Million in CHIPS Funding

Coherent said it has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce to seek up to $50 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to expand advanced manufacturing capacity for AI photonic chips. According to Odaily, Coherent said the expansion is intended to strengthen the domestic U.S. supply chain for photonic chips and support AI computing infrastructure demand for high-speed data transmission. The company said the project aims to ease communication bottlenecks associated with large-scale AI computing and to work with Nvidia on upgrades to optical networking and interconnect technologies for AI-focused “data center factories.” Coherent also noted that Nvidia previously announced a $2 billion investment in the company.