Celestial AI

AI Hardware

Celestial AI builds optical interconnect technology for data center AI infrastructure.

Reviewed by 7wData
Share Email

On this page

Profile

Designs optical interconnect chiplets that replace copper connections inside AI data centers, allowing hyperscalers to build larger, more power-efficient multi-rack AI training and inference systems.

Celestial AI builds optical interconnect technology for data center AI infrastructure. Founded in 2020 by David Lazovsky, Michelle Tomasko, and Preet Virk, the company developed Photonic Fabric—a silicon-based optical chiplet that connects compute, memory, and storage across multi-rack AI systems with 16 terabits per second of bandwidth and nanosecond-class latency. Lazovsky previously founded Intermolecular, an applied materials IP company that went public on NASDAQ, then served as a venture partner at Khosla Ventures before starting Celestial AI.

The startup raised $100 million in Series B (June 2023), $175 million in Series C (March 2024), and $255 million in Series C1 (August 2025), bringing total funding to $520 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. Investors include Fidelity, AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Temasek, Samsung, BlackRock, and Tiger Global Management. In December 2025, semiconductor giant Marvell Technology announced an acquisition at $3.25 billion upfront plus up to $2.25 billion in earnout contingent on revenue milestones by fiscal 2029.

The deal closed in February 2026. Celestial AI secured design wins with leading hyperscalers—though customer names remain undisclosed—who are co-packaging Photonic Fabric chiplets into custom AI processors and interconnect switches for next-generation scale-up architectures. The company positions optical interconnects as the copper-to-fiber shift inside data centers, offering 2x better power efficiency than existing solutions while supporting higher bandwidth density.

Track Celestial AI and 240+ vendors.

335k+ subscribers read the daily AI & data note. One email, both newsletters. Unsubscribe anytime.

Who buys this

  • Hyperscaler cloud providers designing next-generation scale-up AI architectures (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon class)
  • Semiconductor companies requiring high-bandwidth memory interconnects for AI processors
  • Data center operators deploying large-scale generative AI training clusters
  • System integrators building custom AI supercomputing infrastructure

Publicly disclosed clients

  • Samsung Electronics (strategic partnership on Photonic Fabric adoption)
  • At least one unnamed leading hyperscaler with design win for co-packaged optical chiplets (as of 2025)

Strengths and what to watch

Strengths

  • 16 Tbps per chiplet—10x capacity of prior 1.6T alternatives; Photonic Fabric is the first single-chiplet optical solution to this density
  • Power efficiency advantage: 2x better than copper interconnects with nanosecond latencies, directly addressing the Memory Wall bottleneck in AI scaling
  • Deep technical team: CEO Lazovsky (prior semiconductor executive at Applied Materials), CTO Phil Winterbottom (10+ years Bell Labs, optical AI hardware expertise), COO Preet Virk (SVP at MACOM)

Watch for

  • Marvell acquisition integration: Celestial AI is now part of Marvell as of Feb 2026; execution on revenue milestones ($500M annualized by Q4 FY2028) determines earnout payout and independent viability
  • Customer concentration risk: Design wins announced are limited to 'lead hyperscalers' but names are undisclosed; adoption by many hyperscalers is essential for scale, not yet demonstrated publicly
  • Manufacturing complexity: Photonic Fabric requires co-packaging with ASIC dies and tight integration with TSMC; any process delays or yield issues could delay customer ramps into 2027+

Recent moves

Key Information

Industry
AI Hardware
Founded
2020

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Celestial AI do?

Celestial AI designs optical interconnect chiplets for AI data centers, replacing copper connections with silicon-based optical technology. Founded in 2020 by David Lazovsky, Michelle Tomasko, and Preet Virk, the company develops Photonic Fabric—a high-bandwidth solution for connecting compute, memory, and storage across multi-rack AI systems.

How much did Marvell acquire Celestial AI for?

Marvell Technology acquired Celestial AI in February 2026 for $3.25 billion upfront plus up to $2.25 billion in earnout payments contingent on hitting revenue milestones by fiscal 2029. The total deal valuation reached $5.5 billion, making it a significant bet on optical interconnect technology for AI infrastructure.

What is Photonic Fabric technology?

Photonic Fabric is Celestial AI's silicon-based optical chiplet technology delivering 16 terabits per second of bandwidth with nanosecond-class latency. It's the first single-chiplet optical solution achieving this density, offering 2x better power efficiency than copper interconnects while supporting higher bandwidth density in AI data centers.

How do optical interconnects benefit AI data centers?

Optical interconnects like Photonic Fabric address the Memory Wall bottleneck in AI scaling by offering superior power efficiency and nanosecond latencies. They enable hyperscalers to build larger, more power-efficient multi-rack AI systems. Photonic Fabric delivers 10x the capacity of prior alternatives, supporting next-generation scale-up architectures.

Who are Celestial AI's customers?

Celestial AI targets hyperscaler cloud providers, semiconductor manufacturers requiring high-bandwidth interconnects, and data center operators deploying large-scale AI training clusters. Notable customers include Samsung Electronics, which maintains a strategic partnership for Photonic Fabric adoption. At least one unnamed leading hyperscaler has a design win for co-packaged optical chiplets.

How much did Celestial AI raise in funding?

Celestial AI raised $520 million: $100 million Series B (June 2023), $175 million Series C (March 2024), and $255 million Series C1 (August 2025). Investors included Fidelity, AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Temasek, Samsung, BlackRock, and Tiger Global Management at a $2.5 billion valuation.

How Celestial AI compares

Direct head-to-head against 2 competitors. Picked by 7wData.

This company

Celestial AI

Positioning
Designs optical interconnect chiplets that replace copper connections inside AI data centers, allowing hyperscalers to build larger, more power-efficient multi-rack AI training and inference systems.
Customer segments
Hyperscaler cloud providers designing next-generation scale-up AI architectures (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon class)
Strengths
16 Tbps per chiplet—10x capacity of prior 1.6T alternatives; Photonic Fabric is the first single-chiplet optical solution to this density
Watch for
Marvell acquisition integration: Celestial AI is now part of Marvell as of Feb 2026; execution on revenue milestones ($500M annualized by Q4 FY2028) determines earnout payout and independent viability
Recent moves
Marvell completes acquisition of Celestial AI for $3.25 billion upfront plus earnout

Lightmatter

Positioning
Co-packaged optics platform for hyperscaler AI clusters. Passage targets scale-up XPU and switch silicon via silicon photonics.
Customer segments
Hyperscaler cloud providers, OEMs, and system integrators building custom AI accelerator and switch silicon for large-scale clusters.
Strengths
Passage M1000 3D photonic interposer delivers 114 Tbps total bandwidth. vClick optics targets high-volume CPO manufacturing.
Watch for
$4.4B valuation not backed by disclosed production contracts. Hyperscaler deployment delays could create cash pressure.
Recent moves
March 2025, launched Passage M1000 3D photonic interposer with 114 Tbps bandwidth for hyperscaler AI cluster interconnects.

Ayar Labs

Positioning
TeraPHY optical I/O chiplets co-packaged directly onto AI accelerator dies. Backed by Nvidia, AMD, and Intel as strategic investors.
Customer segments
Semiconductor companies, ASIC designers, and hyperscalers integrating co-packaged optics into AI accelerator and scale-up switch silicon.
Strengths
First UCIe-compliant optical interconnect chiplet (April 2025). TeraPHY brings optical I/O directly to the accelerator die interface.
Watch for
Optical I/O die yield failures post-packaging risk destroying assembled accelerators. Customers cite per-unit loss exposure in CPO design reviews.
Recent moves
March 2026, closed $500M Series E led by Neuberger Berman at $3.75B valuation. Nvidia, AMD, and Intel participated.

Sources

  1. investor.marvell.com — Marvell acquisition announcement Dec 2, 2025; deal terms ($1B cash, $2.25B shares, up to $2.25B earnout); strategic rationale for optical interconnect scale-up
  2. www.businesswire.com — Series C1 funding $255M in August 2025; Fidelity-led round; $2.5B valuation; investor list; total funding $520M
  3. news.crunchbase.com — Series C1 funding details; CEO David Lazovsky quote on AI infrastructure challenges; investor participation
  4. www.cnbc.com — Marvell acquisition announcement; valuation up to $5.5B with earnouts; competitive positioning vs. other optical interconnect vendors
  5. optics.org — Optical interconnect technology details; Photonic Fabric performance specs and bandwidth capacity
  6. www.businesswire.com — Hyperscaler design win announcements; Samsung partnership details; Photonic Fabric adoption timeline
  7. www.laserfocusworld.com — CEO David Lazovsky background; Intermolecular founding and IPO; path to Celestial AI founding
  8. www.crunchbase.com — Celestial AI company founding year (2020); founders; funding rounds; Series B and C funding details