Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, that it has acquired Enosemi, a Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in silicon photonics technology. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Enosemi, founded in 2023 by tech entrepreneurs including Ari Novack and Matthew Streshinsky, builds and ships photonic integrated circuits—microchips containing multiple photonic components that form a functioning circuit. The company offers products such as optical interconnects, which integrate computing and networking components inside data centers.
Silicon photonics uses light (photons) instead of electricity to transmit data, offering a faster and more efficient alternative to traditional electrical communication. The technology has already been deployed in network switches, inter-chiplet interconnects, and other applications. Light-based integrated circuits provide higher speeds, more bandwidth, and better power efficiency than electronic ICs, making them a highly attractive frontier in chip design.
"As AI models grow larger and more complex, the need for faster, more efficient data movement is accelerating," said Brian Amick, SVP of technology and engineering at AMD. "Enosemi has collaborated with us as an external development partner on photonics, and this acquisition extends that successful relationship."
Now as part of AMD, the Enosemi team will help immediately scale AMD's ability to support and develop a variety of photonics and co-packaged optics solutions across next-generation AI systems. The elite team of experts and PhD-level talent at Enosemi has a proven track record of building and shipping photonic integrated circuits in volume, a unique feat that few select teams have accomplished. "Their depth of experience, technical rigor, and track record of execution make them an ideal fit for AMD as we push deeper into high-performance interconnect innovation," AMD said.
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors have pinned their hopes on optics technology, which they believe will be central to building ever-larger computers for AI systems. Co-packaged optics uses laser light to send information on fiber optic cables between chips, resulting in faster and more energy-efficient connections compared to traditional copper cables.
The Enosemi acquisition builds on AMD's portfolio to address AI needs, from foundational silicon to systems-level integration. This includes the acquisition of FPGA company Xilinx, adding data movement and networking capabilities through Pensando, adding to its software team with Silo AI and Mipsology, and scaling rack-level system design with the acquisition of ZT Systems. "As we look ahead, the demands of AI systems will require not just powerful chips, but full-stack innovation across compute, networking, systems architecture, software and more," the company said.
When a transceiver is integrated directly into a switch, data takes less time to travel between the transceiver and the switch's other components, which lowers latency. "Enosemi has collaborated with us as an external development partner on photonics, and this acquisition extends that successful relationship," Amick wrote. "Now as part of AMD, the team will help us immediately scale our ability to support and develop a variety of photonics and co-packaged optics solutions across next-gen AI systems."