Opticore, a photonic computing company, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Sagax Capital and Jetha Global. The company is developing optical processing units that can perform the same computational tasks as GPUs but using light and waveguides instead of electrical components, allowing computation at multiple orders of magnitude lower energy costs and higher clock speeds. BLACKSBURG, Va. — Next-generation sensing and perception systems developer Aeva has expanded its collaboration with Torc, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, to advance the development of a new safety architecture for autonomous truck applications. Under the expanded collaboration, the companies will work toward Level 4 autonomous driving, targeting the commercialization of Daimler's autonomous trucks by 2027. HSG Laser’s Jinan, China, facility. Courtesy of HSG Laser. CHICAGO — HSG Laser, a developer of metal shaping equipment and solutions, has established a manufacturing facility in Jinan, China. The facility, which cost a total $68.3 million, features the debut of the company’s 120 kW high-power laser cutting machine equipped with fourth-generation Ytterbium-doped fiber technology and third-generation high-power transmission systems. The company has stated that the facility will play a critical role in its goal of surpassing 10,000 units in annual global production capacity. TORONTO — Photonic integrated circuits company POET Technologies has agreements with optical engine manufacturer Globetronics Manufacturing to manufacture optical engines for POET in Penang, Malaysia. This comes after POET singed a memorandum of understanding with Quanzhou Sanan Optical Communication Technology Co., Ltd. to transfer to POET its 24.8% stake in the joint venture Super Photonics Xiamen (SPX). POET has confirmed that its $25 million offering has been fully subscribed by a single institutional investor and that the closing of that offering is expected to take place after completion of the SPX acquisition. 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical technology. Courtesy of 3M. ST. PAUL, Minn. — 3M has entered into a strategic licensing agreement with US Conec Ltd., an optical interconnect designer, to help in the commercialization of 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical Interconnect technology. 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical Interconnect is a high-performance and scalable solution available in both single-mode and multimode configurations. As part of this agreement, US Conec will manufacture and supply products utilizing 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical technology, helping to ensure a robust supply chain for future network deployments. WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Samsung Electronics up to $4.7 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication facilities. The funding will support Samsung’s investment of over $37 billion in the coming years to turn its existing presence in Central Texas into a comprehensive ecosystem for the development and production of chips in the U.S. This will include two new logic fabs and an R&D fab in Taylor, Texas, as well as an expansion to their existing Austin, Texas, facility. Toyoda Gosei plans to use to use Pi’s technology in its plants globally. Courtesy of Toyoda Gosei. KIYOSU, Japan — Automotive parts manufacturer Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. has made an investment in LED lighting equipment developer Pi Photonics, Inc. Pi’s LED lights form light patterns and can be used in applications such as safety displays in manufacturing sites to visualize restricted areas or fall zones of loads during crane work, as well as in stage lighting. Toyoda Gosei plans to use to use Pi’s technology in its plants globally. The LaRA2. Courtesy of ispace EUROPE S.A. LUXEMBOURG — ispace EUROPE S.A., a subsidiary of ispace, inc., has signed a payload services agreement with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to transport a Laser Retroreflector Array (LaRA2) to enable accurate position measurements on the Moon via laser ranging experiments. LaRA2 is a small, robust instrument featuring a precise array of retroreflectors (corner cube prisms) designed to reflect laser beams directly back to their source, regardless of the angle of incidence. The technology will be integrated into the APEX 1.0 lunar lander as part of ispace technologies U.S.’s Mission 3, currently scheduled to land in the Schrödinger Basin (far side of the Moon, South Pole) in 2026. After touchdown, ASI will enable long-term laser ranging observations of LaRA2 by lunar orbiters.