Celestial AI Acquires Silicon Photonics Patent Portfolio from Rockley Photonics

Optical computing technologies developer Celestial AI has acquired silicon photonics intellectual property from Rockley Photonics. The acquired portfolio, which includes issued and pending patents, comprises the technology categories of optoelectronic systems-in-package, electro-absorption modulators, and optical switch technology, Celestial AI said.

All three categories are relevant to multiple AI data center infrastructure applications. Celestial AI is focused on delivering solutions to hyperscale data center customers, both directly and through its ecosystem partners, that enable performance, scalability, and energy efficiency advantages at the forefront of next-generation AI compute and network connectivity. Celestial AI said that the acquired intellectual property aligns with its core technology roadmap and complements its existing portfolio spanning advanced packaging, thermally stable silicon photonics, and system architectures for optical compute interconnect.

Celestial AI's Photonic Fabric platform targets applications in AI and data centers by addressing constraints in utility power availability, memory capacity, and operational costs. The technology allows the disaggregation of compute and memory, enabling each component to be leveraged and scaled with greater efficiency. According to Celestial AI, Photonic Fabric delivers more than 25× greater bandwidth and memory capacity while reducing latency and power consumption by up to 10× compared to existing optical interconnect alternatives and copper.

The company raised a $175 million funding round earlier this year.

Rockley, whose intellectual property in silicon photonics dates back to 2014, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the beginning of 2023. The company emerged from bankruptcy six months later, following a comprehensive financial restructuring and having secured $35 million in funding from its stakeholders. At the time, Rockley said that it remained on schedule with all programs, including its development of remote patient-monitoring technology. Rockley became a publicly traded company in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Beyond silicon photonics for data communications, Rockley Photonics is the developer of noninvasive biomarker sensing technology based on photoplethysmography and SWIR laser-based spectroscopy. The company unveiled its biophotonics-focused technology platform in 2021.