US Startup Lightmatter Looking To Speed Up Computing Via Light

The idea of using light instead of electricity in computing has been around for decades. Boston-based startup Lightmatter Inc. believes the technology’s time has finally come. It is pitching the solution to big data center operators, such as Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google, which is an investor via GV, venture capital arm of parent Alphabet Inc. The startup’s technology uses tiny structures called “Wave guides” that redirect light. Known as silicon photonics, turn the light into electrical signals that existing computing gear can understand. The system can send data between components 100 times quicker than the fastest PC and uses 10% of the energy, according to Lightmatter co-founder Nick Harris. With data centers forecast to account for more than 15% of global power use in the next five years, anything that saves electricity is valuable, Harris said. The Lightmatter system speeds this up immensely, he said.