TL;DR
Get business pricing on tech for your team
- Business-only prices and quantity discounts
- Tax-exempt purchasing
- Multiple users, one account, clear invoices
PsiQuantum has demonstrated an 8×8 optical circuit switch built on its silicon photonics platform, which it originally developed for quantum computing. The company reports 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in less than 3 milliseconds; commercial products are still in development.
PsiQuantum has unveiled an 8×8 optical circuit switching demonstration intended for AI data center connectivity, extending a silicon photonics platform it developed for quantum computing. The company says tests in its labs recorded 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in under 3 milliseconds; samples are being shared with selected prospective customers as it works toward commercial products.
The demonstration is an 8×8-radix optical circuit switch, which connects optical paths between network inputs and outputs. PsiQuantum says its testing produced typical insertion loss of 1.2 dB, crosstalk performance of 40 dB and reconfiguration times below 3 milliseconds. The company reports that the results exceeded its initial targets and were achieved without optical amplification. These are company-reported laboratory results, not independently verified customer deployment data.
PsiQuantum is sharing demonstration samples with selected prospective customers and advancing the platform toward commercial products, which it says will be announced in the coming months. The company has not disclosed product pricing, delivery schedules, customer names or the scale of any planned deployments. Its announcement describes the switch as an application of a low-loss silicon photonics platform developed over nearly a decade for utility-scale quantum computing.
The company says barium titanate (BTO) integration is not used in this demonstration vehicle or its initial planned products. PsiQuantum reports that it has developed BTO integration at 300mm wafer scale and uses a 64×64 BTO switch in its quantum systems, but presents that capability as a possible path for more advanced future products rather than a feature of the switch announced here.
Why Optical Switching Matters to AI Networks
As AI computing expands, data centers need to move increasing volumes of data among processors and other systems. Network capacity and energy use can become constraints alongside computing hardware itself. Optical circuit switches are designed to route light directly between connections, potentially offering operators another way to organize high-capacity links. PsiQuantum’s demonstration matters because it brings a platform developed for quantum systems into a market where demand for data center connectivity is growing.
However, a laboratory demonstration does not establish how the switch would perform in a production network. Buyers would need to evaluate matters such as reliability, integration with existing equipment, power consumption, operating costs and performance at larger scale. PsiQuantum has not supplied those deployment results in the announcement. The commercial relevance will depend on whether prospective customers find the device suitable for real workloads and whether the company can manufacture it at the required volumes.
The move may also give PsiQuantum a route to put parts of its photonics work to use before its quantum computing goal is reached. The company says advances in AI infrastructure could support quantum system design and operation, while technology developed for quantum computing may help address AI infrastructure bottlenecks. Those are the company’s stated strategic rationale; the announcement does not quantify any such benefits.
Products Worth Considering
DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Gimbal Camera Pro Kit, 18-Piece Bundle
Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus v2 Portable Power Station
Jackery Solar Generator 1000 v2 with 200W Solar Panel
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Quantum Photonics to Data Centers
PsiQuantum has spent nearly a decade developing low-loss silicon photonics for utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing. The company says the demands of that work led it to pursue performance requirements that exceed many of those needed for optical switching in AI data centers. The new demonstration applies that underlying platform to a separate, near-term infrastructure market while PsiQuantum says it will continue developing quantum computers.
The announcement follows a September 2026 development: PsiQuantum said it had signed definitive documentation with the U.S. Department of Commerce to accelerate research and development, domestic manufacturability and performance of critical components, including optical switches. The source material does not detail the terms or funding associated with that documentation. The newly disclosed 8×8 demonstration is the company’s first publicly disclosed optical circuit switching vehicle, according to its announcement.
“This opportunity exists because we chose to solve the hardest scaling problems at the beginning of our roadmap to utility-scale quantum computing.”
— Victor Peng, chief executive officer of PsiQuantum
Commercial Readiness Remains Unproven
The announcement does not identify the prospective customers receiving samples or say whether any have committed to purchases. It also provides no independent test results, field trials, production yields, pricing, power figures or commercial shipment dates. PsiQuantum’s figures describe testing in its own labs, and the company has not explained the test setup or detailed how results vary across devices and operating conditions.
It remains unclear how the 8×8 demonstration would scale to larger switching systems, how it would integrate with data center networks, or what performance customers would see under sustained use. The company says commercial products will be announced in the coming months, but has not provided a specific date. Its plans for later BTO-enabled products also remain unspecified.
Customer Samples and Product Plans
PsiQuantum says it is now providing demonstration samples to selected prospective customers and developing commercial products for AI data center connectivity. It expects to announce those products in the coming months, although it has not set a date or disclosed which specifications will carry over from the laboratory vehicle.
The next indicators will be whether customer evaluations lead to deployments, whether independent or field testing supports the reported performance, and how the switch fits into data center systems at commercial scale. PsiQuantum says it will continue its work on fault-tolerant quantum computers alongside the optical switching effort.
Key Questions
What did PsiQuantum announce?
It disclosed an 8×8 optical circuit switching demonstration based on its silicon photonics platform, intended for AI data center connectivity.
What performance did the company report?
PsiQuantum reports typical laboratory results of 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in less than 3 milliseconds, without optical amplification. These figures have not been independently verified in the supplied material.
Is the switch commercially available?
No commercial availability has been announced. PsiQuantum says it is sharing demonstration samples with selected prospective customers and developing products it expects to announce in the coming months.
Does the demonstration use barium titanate?
No. PsiQuantum says BTO is not required for the demonstration vehicle or its initial planned products. It describes BTO integration as a possible route for faster, more advanced future products.
What remains unknown about the device?
Customer identities, pricing, manufacturing scale, power use, field reliability, deployment results and a specific commercial launch date have not been disclosed.
Source: rss
