Conversation with Ayar Labs CEO Mark Wade on Silicon Photonics, Co-Packaged Optics, and Next-Gen AI Infrastructure
With
@BenBajarin and
@jaygoldberg.
0:00 Introduction and the interconnect bottleneck
2:29 The high-level pitch for IR Labs and optical connectivity
4:42 Why building optical solutions is so difficult
7:30 Why now? The catalyst of ChatGPT
11:46 The complexities of advanced packaging and manufacturing
16:05 Navigating the future landscape of interconnects 21:00 Exploring digital twin manufacturing models
24:54 IR Labs' core bet on CMOS-scale foundries
28:06 Confidence in the TSMC COUPE process
33:48 Customer adoption hurdles and strategic partnerships
38:05 Funding strategy, Series E, and the path to IPO
43:40 Interacting with Wall Street and public investors
48:24 Wrap-up and future market size estimates