The company’s investment in high-power laser production is expected to strengthen America’s global AI infrastructure leadership.
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Lumentum Holdings Inc., a designer and manufacturer of optical and photonic products that enable optical networking and laser applications, will fund “a major capacity expansion” at its U.S.-based semiconductor facility in San Jose, the company said in a release.
The planned expansion is expected to generate additional high-skilled engineering and manufacturing jobs, further strengthening the U.S. position in the global AI supply chain. Lumentum called it “a significant milestone in its commitment to innovation and U.S.-based manufacturing.”
Lumentum is a primary supplier of ultra-high-power (UHP) lasers, essential components in co-packaged optics (CPO) platforms. Its UHP laser, described by Lumentum as “an ultra-reliable indium phosphide product,” is designed and manufactured at Lumentum’s Rose Orchard Way semiconductor facility in San Jose. Backed by decades of experience in high-power telecom lasers, the UHP laser supports low-power, highly resilient optical networking systems that are foundational to modern AI data centers, the company said.
“This investment is a testament to our leadership in laser and photonic technologies,” said Michael Hurlston, president and CEO of Lumentum, in the release. “Our commitment to expanding domestic manufacturing not only supports a robust AI infrastructure supply chain but also reinforces America’s role in global technology leadership.”
Lumentum said it has long been at the forefront of photonic innovation, advancing telecommunications, data centers, and industrial applications. Its foundation rooted in laser and optical technologies, the company enables “the world’s most advanced systems, meeting the evolving demands of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time data processing in an era of rapid technological change,” the release stated.
Lumentum stated that it is working with NVIDIA on advanced networking technologies for AI infrastructure.
“With AI transforming every industry, the demand for high-performance, energy-efficient optical interconnects is growing rapidly,” said Gilad Shainer, senior vice president, Networking, NVIDIA, in the release. “NVIDIA is working closely with industry innovators like Lumentum to deliver improved power efficiency and network resiliency for the AI factories of the future.”
According to Lumentum, its optical components and subsystems are “part of virtually every type of telecom, enterprise, and data center network.” In addition, the company’s lasers enable advanced manufacturing techniques and diverse applications, including next-generation 3D sensing capabilities, the release stated.