Tech Giants Unite to Revolutionize AI Infrastructure with Optical Standards
Major tech companies have joined forces to launch the Optical Scale-up Consortium. The group includes AMD, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI. Their goal is to develop open standards for AI infrastructure through a new interoperable optical interface protocol.
The consortium is built on the Optical Compute Interconnect Multi-Source Agreement (OCI MSA). This framework aims to simplify data centre connectivity with a 'plug-and-play' approach. The OCI MSA supports high-density, standardised interfaces to improve data transfer speeds. These include OCI Gen1, offering 4× 50 Gbps using NRZ (non-return-to-zero) modulation, and OCI Gen2, providing 400 Gbps bidirectional technology. The specification also combines NRZ with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), a method that allows multiple data streams to travel simultaneously over a single fibre.
The agreement covers multiple form factors, ensuring compatibility across pluggable, co-packaged, and integrated optics (CPO). This flexibility helps data centres scale efficiently while maintaining performance. Brian Amick, AMD's Senior Vice President of Technology & Engineering, has publicly backed the initiative, highlighting its importance for future AI workloads.
WDM itself has evolved significantly since the 1980s. Early single-channel systems gave way to Dense WDM (DWDM) in the 1990s, boosting capacity and reducing signal loss through advancements like optical amplification. Today, WDM is a cornerstone of high-speed Ethernet (10G, 40G, 100G), enabling energy-efficient data transmission at scale.
Looking ahead, the OCI MSA roadmap targets even higher performance. Plans include increasing wavelength counts and data rates to 3.2 terabits per second (Tbps) per fibre—and beyond. The consortium also aims to build a multi-vendor supply chain, ensuring broader adoption of these open specifications. The Optical Scale-up Consortium's work focuses on creating open, high-speed interconnects for AI systems. By standardising optical interfaces, the group hopes to streamline data centre operations and reduce compatibility issues. The initiative's success could lead to faster, more efficient AI infrastructure in the coming years.
