China has recently taken a giant technological leap with its homegrown 100 Wavelength Optical AI Chip. This is a processor that uses light instead of electricity to perform complex computations with remarkable speed and energy efficiency.
With this breakthrough, China is growing its leadership in computing technologies for the next generation and presents a strategic challenge to India’s aspirations in advanced electronics, semiconductor research, and deep-tech development.
Optical AI Chip Technology: The Explanation
Unlike the conventional processors or silicon chips that rely on the movement of electrons, optical chips process data using photons- particles of light. Now imagine that instead of sending data through a single stream, the chip uses 100 parallel wavelengths of light, each functioning like its own high-speed lane on a superhighway. This means the chip can handle 100 separate streams of information at once.
It’s like running 100 express trains simultaneously on separate tracks, all inside a chip no bigger than your fingernail.
Key Takeaways
- Massive Parallel Processing: Can manage multiple data streams simultaneously using different light wavelengths
- Energy Efficiency: Consumes far less power, making it ideal for high-performance and mobile applications
- Ultra-Fast Speeds: Operates at the speed of light, significantly faster than traditional silicon-based chips
- Compact & Scalable: Enables powerful computing in smaller, more efficient hardware designs\
China’s Vision: To Dominate Core Technologies
China’s optical chip isn’t just a tech experiment; it is part of their strategic playbook and years of focused investment across AI, quantum, semiconductors, and photonics.
The country has the vision to dominate the core technologies to be the world leader, and they are now reaping the rewards:
- Strong collaboration between top Chinese universities and tech companies to develop photonic chips
- Focusing on self-reliance to reduce their dependence on U.S. chips
- Government-backed national programs to bring together light-based tech, chipmaking, and advanced computing
- Skilling up the experts to be future-ready
India’s Position in Optical Chip Development
While India has ambitious tech initiatives like Digital India, Semicon India, and IndiaAI, the area of optical chip innovation remains untapped. Though we have taken a giant leap in AI algorithms, data infrastructure, and traditional chip plans, photonics seems like a miss from the mainstream strategy.
Why It Is a Strategic Wake-Up Call?
- India’s Tech May Fall Behind: If we focus only on old-style silicon chips, we may fall behind while the world moves to newer light-based chips
- The Need for Faster & Smarter Hardware: Optical chips can help run our digital tools more quickly and cheaply, especially language apps and health tech
- Lagging May Hinder the Dream of Self-reliance: China, the US, and Europe are already ahead in optical chip tech. India must join in, or we will face the risk of relying on others for future technology
The Requisites
- India should launch a National Photonics Mission under the Digital India umbrella
- Set up academic-industry labs to develop India’s first indigenous optical chip
- Support prototype-to-product pipelines in silicon photonics and next-gen hardware startups
- Collaborate with global leaders in photonic technology, like the US, Japan, Israel, and Europe
- Must include photonics in national computing infrastructure plans to ensure long-term readiness
- A clear national strategy and risk capital to turn this early potential into a large-scale deep-tech success
India’s Hidden Strengths in Photonics
India isn’t starting from scratch. We already have:
- A strong base of engineers and scientists who can be trained in photonics and optical systems
- World-class research in optics and photonics at institutes like IITs, IISc, and TIFR
- Startups exploring Li-Fi, optical communication, and advanced hardware solutions
- IIT Madras’s semiconductor fab, which could become a platform for developing photonic chips
Read More: Surge in MSME Closures: Over 35,500 Businesses Shut Down in FY25
