为主导下一阶段的人工智能网络，Marvell Technology计划以全股票交易方式收购光子学巨头Lumentum，交易价值1150亿美元。此举将填补Marvell光子学产品组合中的几个关键缺口，特别是在高性能激光器、光学收发器、光电路开关以及涉及磷化铟的专用化合物半导体制造能力方面。更高速的互连与更大的计算域是推动向光子学转变的动力。
Hoping to dominate the next phase of AI networking, Marvell Technology plans to acquire photonics giant Lumentum in an all-stock deal valued at $115 billion. The move will fill several key gaps in Marvell's photonics portfolio, particularly with regard to high-performance laser sources, optical transceivers, optical circuit switches, and specialized compound semiconductor manufacturing capabilities involving indium phosphide. Higher speed interconnects combined with larger compute domains are the driving forces behind the move to photonics.
随着互连速度超过每通道400 Gbps，铜互连正被推向极限，导致更密集、更热的机架系统。光学技术为这些缩放定律提供了喘息空间。传统铜线只能在约1.25米的距离内保持400 Gbps信号。每当每通道速度翻倍，传输距离就减半。光子学在很大程度上不受此限制，可将信号传输数公里，使基础设施提供商能够将系统扩展到整个机架排，同时降低每个机架的电力和冷却需求。
As interconnects push beyond 400 Gbps per lane, copper interconnects are being pushed to their limit, necessitating denser, hotter rack systems. Optics offer a reprieve from these scaling laws. Traditional copper wire can only maintain a 400 Gbps signal over about 1.25 meters. Every time the per lane speed doubles, the reach is halved. Photonics are largely immune to this and can push that signal over kilometers, enabling infrastructure providers to scale their systems across entire aisles, while also reducing the power and cooling requirements of each individual rack.
这笔全股票交易预计将于2028年上半年完成，当时包括Nvidia和AMD在内的人工智能基础设施建设者正在瞄准更大的机架级系统，这些系统将高度依赖光学互连，将数百甚至数千块GPU缝合成单一计算域，用于训练或推理。今年早些时候在台北举行的2026年台北电脑展上，黄仁勋预测，Marvell在光子学方面的长期投资将使这家IP公司的估值飙升至1万亿美元。
Due to close in the first half of 2028, the all-stock transaction comes as AI infrastructure builders, including Nvidia and AMD, eye larger rack-scale systems, which will rely heavily on optical interconnects to stitch hundreds and even thousands of GPUs together into a single compute domain for training or inference. At Computex 2026 in Taipei earlier this year, Jensen Huang predicted that Marvell's long-term investments in photonics would catapult the IP house to a $1 trillion valuation.
但这尚未实现——该公司目前的市值仅为1800亿美元——不过，Marvell似乎并不介意通过收购光学供应商来“买通”终点线，以免在人工智能热潮推高这些供应商估值之前错失良机。
That hasn't happened just yet – the company’s market cap currently sits at just $180 billion – but it seems Marvell isn't above buying its way to the finish line by snapping up optics vendors before the AI boom sends their valuations skyrocketing.
正如我们此前报道的那样，向光学规模网络的转型推动了光学、硅光子学研发和制造领域的投资热潮。英伟达本身就在八个月前向Lumentum投资了20亿美元，以增强其光学制造产能。迄今为止，限制因素一直是电力。当英伟达在2024年推出其首批基于Blackwell的机架系统时，黄仁勋表示，该公司特意避免采用光学技术，因为光学技术会给一个在负载下已耗电120千瓦的系统增加20千瓦的额外功耗。
As we've previously reported, the move to optical scale up networks has fueled a flurry of investment in optics, silicon photonics development, and manufacturing. Nvidia itself invested $2 billion into Lumentum just eight months ago to bolster its optics manufacturing capacity. The limiting factor up to this point has been power. When Nvidia unveiled its first Blackwell-based rack systems in 2024, Huang noted the company specifically avoided optics as they would have added 20 kW of additional power draw to a system that already consumed 120 kW under load.
在此后的几年里，Marvell大力投资下一代光学技术。最引人注目的收购之一发生在2026年2月，当时该公司以约35亿美元收购了光互连开发商Celestial AI。Celestial的技术为更高效的光学集成打开了大门，包括近封装和芯片级光互连，其功耗仅为规模外网络中使用的传统可插拔光学模块的一小部分。Marvell收购Lumentum将使这家IP公司成为AI基础设施提供商光子学需求的一站式商店。®
In the years since then, Marvell has invested heavily in next-gen optics tech. One of the most notable acquisitions came in February 2026, when the company paid about $3.5 billion for photonic interconnect developer Celestial AI. Celestial's tech opened the door to more efficient optics integrations including near- and co-packaged optical interconnects that used a fraction of the power of conventional pluggable optics used in scale out networks. Marvell's Lumentum buy will position the IP house as a one-stop shop for AI infrastructure providers' photonics needs. ®