LOS ANGELES, CA – March 17, 2026 – The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) - The Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC), a leading Silicon Photonics standards organization and innovation hub representing companies across the photonics supply chain, today announced unprecedented growth surpassing over 50 members in less than two and a half years.  This photonics industry standards initiative milestone underscores the growing recognition and desire for an open-source supply chain as a strategic imperative in silicon photonics manufacturing on a global level.   The launch of APC has created new partnerships between photonics companies and has strengthened collaboration within the supply chain to define best scalable manufacturing practices by identifying and removing differentiation that hinder scalability.  APC’s newest members in 2026 are Hakusan, Pilot Photonics, Lightium, Mesh Semiconductor, Xscape Photonics, Microsoft, WaferForge, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK), HYC Co Ltd, and Focuslight. 

 

APC’s vision for the photonics industry is to meet next generation data center design requirements by addressing systemic challenges in silicon photonics manufacturing through collaborative open-source initiatives. As photonics promises to solve the challenges of the increasing AI infrastructure needs, key priorities include the ability for each level of the ecosystem to provide both requirements down the ecosystem and technical input up the ecosystem for formation of standards, to lower barrier to entry for new technologies, and to enable opportunity for multiple supply chain sourcing.

 

APC’s growth in 2025 has set the stage for an unprecedented year in 2026. Key achievements included creating and managing 9 working/focus groups tailored for Silicon Photonics Manufacturing, Co-Packaged Optics, and Multi-Core Fiber, acquiring several companies from each technology sector of the supply chain and growing its board of directors, steering members, and associate members.

 

“The Silicon Photonics manufacturing open-source supply chain is one of the core strategies of APC,” said Julie Adams, Business Development Executive at IBM and APC’s Vice President of the Board. “Joining APC allows us to work more closely alongside other industry leaders to advance silicon photonics technologies and innovations that foster greater collaboration and connectivity throughout the industry. “

“Growth is never by mere chance, it is the result of forces working together,” said Jeffery Maki, APC’s Chairman of the Board. “APC embraces the AI revolution with commitment, precision, and teamwork to unlock photonics unprecedented opportunity for growth and innovation in the data center.”

    “Silicon photonics standards are essential to move the technology from niche, high-cost applications to high-volume, cost-effective, interoperable mainstream production,” said Vikas Gupta, Senior Director of Product Management at GlobalFoundries and APC Board of Director. “As AI and data centers demand more energy-efficient data transfer, standards ensure that components from different vendors will work together, reducing the high cost and complexity associated with co-packaged optics.”

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“As a hyperscale cloud leader, Microsoft recognizes that open photonics standards and a collaborative open-source supply chain are crucial to meeting global data center demands,” said Fotini Karinou, Principal Hardware Architect for Optical Technologies at Microsoft Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure. “By collaborating through APC’s open ecosystem, we can accelerate silicon photonics manufacturing and co-packaged optics innovation at scale, helping catalyze the next generation of high-performance, sustainable data centers.”
 


About Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC)

APC (The Advanced Photonics Coalition) is a non-profit innovation hub for silicon photonics and co-packaged optics reference designs mixed with industry standards whose mission is to foster the adoption of a photonics open-source supply chain, standards, and collaborative development practices in manufacturing. As part of the organization’s goals, APC works towards providing a portfolio of best manufacturing practices standards documentation, standards-compliant platforms for developers from competing organizations to collaborate on innovative projects that transform business operations and manufacturing processes. With over 50 member companies spanning industry leading photonics corporations, APC is at the forefront of driving open-source innovation in Silicon Photonics Manufacturing.   

 

Join the Advanced Photonics Coalition open-source silicon photonics ecosystem.

Visit us at www.advanced-photonics.org, LinkedIn or Youtube.