Modern AI computing was made possible by successive leaps in wafer-level integration: first 2.5D electrical interposers that brought GPUs and HBM into a single package, then hybrid bonding that enabled today's HBM stacks and 3D logic. The optical layer, now the defining bottleneck for scaling AI, has not made that leap.  At the center of the POET/Lumilens joint development program is a new paradigm for integration and module fabrication – the Electrical-Optical Interposer (EOI) – combining alignment-free wafer-level optical engine production with next-generation optical chipsets and advanced manufacturing capabilities, all to meet the ever-growing demands for scale and performance in AI infrastructure.

POET and Lumilens have structured the joint EOI platform to deliver:

● Enhanced performance & density, enabling compact, high-bandwidth solutions for next-generation AI and data center architectures

● Active-alignment-free manufacturing, replacing the single largest cost, yield, and throughput constraint in optical engine production with wafer-scale processing

● Capital-efficient, high-volume manufacturing, allowing optical supply to scale with hyperscaler GPU fleet growth rather than against the labor-bound limits of conventional optical assembly

 

The supply agreement between Lumilens and POET establishes a commercial framework to support the joint development program, and, as part of that framework, Lumilens has placed an initial purchase order with POET for the manufacturing of EOI-based engines valued at $50 million. This purchase order represents the first phase of a broader supplier relationship that could scale to $500+ million in cumulative purchases from POET over five years.

In connection with the supply agreement, and to align both companies to the long-term value created through the partnership, POET has granted Lumilens a warrant to purchase up to 22,921,408 common shares. The warrant is immediately exercisable for 2,292,140 shares, with the remaining shares vesting and becoming exercisable in tranches based on cumulative payments by Lumilens toward future purchase orders totaling up to $500 million. The warrant is exercisable over nine years at an exercise price of $8.25 per share. 

"GPU interconnects are emerging as the defining bottleneck for scaling AI, and addressing it requires rethinking the full optical stack — silicon, photonics, and packaging — together," said Ankur Singla, CEO and Founder of Lumilens. "This joint development partnership with POET combines Lumilens' next-generation chipset and advanced optical manufacturing capabilities with wafer-level photonic integration to build a clear path to the performance, density, and economics that frontier AI deployments will demand over the next decade."

"Our focus has always been on redefining the integration paradigm in photonics," said Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, Chairman & CEO of POET Technologies. "This new EOI platform will allow us to jointly bring semiconductor-style manufacturing discipline to optical engines — delivering precision, scalability, and cost structure advantages that are essential for AI infrastructure at scale. Working jointly with Lumilens enables us to translate these capabilities into high-volume production and end-customer deployments for the next generation of AI data centers."

Together, POET and Lumilens will deploy the joint platform across a multi-year roadmap: from 800G and 1.6T pluggable transceivers to next-gen high-density Near-Package Optics (NPO) and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO). Fulfilment of the purchase orders and associated revenues is subject to the successful development and ultimate qualification of the modules, as well as the successful scaling of manufacturing capability. Engineering samples from this joint development program are expected in late 2026, with production ramp aligned to hyperscaler customer deployments in 2027.