OCP Global Summit Showcase
OCP's mission is unchanged: taking hyperscale innovation to all, guided by openness, efficiency, sustainability, impact, and scale. What's growing is the scope — from the data hall to the full AI infrastructure stack, spanning silicon diversity, chiplets, facilities, energy, and the AI computing continuum from hyperscale data centers to regional and smaller sites. Looking to 2027 and beyond, OCP is launching three initiatives: system technology co-optimization for silicon design, modular interfaces that reduce grid-to-chip redesign, and solutions for smaller racks under 100 kilowatts.
Jim Carroll of Converge Digest and Roy Chua of AvidThink were onsite gathering video interviews with speakers, vendors, and community leaders. We appreciate our multi-year partnership with OCP and thank them for letting us capture video.
While you're here, feel free to grab our latest research brief right from this page.
Why Coherent-Lite Demand Is Taking Off
OCP 2026 Takeaways: CPO vs. NPO
Powering AI Data Centers: Two Paths from 50V to 800V
Co-Packaged Optics Demo in a Liquid-Cooled Rack
How AI Powers Outcome-Driven Networking for Enterprises
Why Ethernet Is Winning AI Networking
Making the Case for OCI
Scaling AI Across Buildings: 32x Denser Networks for Hyperscalers
New USFP Open Optical Form Factor Scales to 12.8T
Breaking the AI Memory Wall: HBM4-Class Bandwidth
Scaling Silicon Photonics: 1.6T Optics, NPO, and 400G per Lane
d-Matrix Attention Feed-Forward Disaggregation at 800+ Tokens/Sec
Grid to Rack as One Power System
Validating Scale-Up, Scale-Out, and Scale-Across
200-Terabit Optical Switch: Collaboration Advances AI Networking
Slow and Wide Optical PCIe
2nd-Gen CXL Cuts Time to First Token by 50%
Introducing OCP's Project Tessera
Copper vs. Fiber in AI Scale-Up: Why Optics Are Moving Inside the Box
One Faulty Connection Can Stall GPU Revenue
NVIDIA's Power Efficiency Leap: CPO & 800V Racks
Efficient AI Inference at Rack Scale
Open Infrastructure, Neoclouds & Supply Chain
Uniting Scale-Up and Scale-Out in One Fabric
Why Test & Measurement Drives AI Job Performance
From LiDAR to Optical Circuit Switching
Solving the Data Center Bandwidth Bottleneck
Xsight's 200G DPU for Edge AI & Space Computing
From hyperscale to the AI computing continuum and beyond
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What we learned at the 2026 OCP Global Summit
Across 28 interviews at a sold-out San Jose show, the open hardware community is rebuilding the AI data center around light, 800-volt power, and open standards for scale-up.
An optics show first — and CPO vs. NPO is no longer theoretical
650 Group's Alan Weckel called OCP 2026 fundamentally an optics show, with laser demand heading from hundreds of millions to billions. Meta has logged 225 million hours on Broadcom's Tomahawk 5 CPO, NVIDIA's co-packaged optics is shipping with nearly 5x better power efficiency and 10x resiliency, and Ayar Labs ran TSMC COUPE-based optical engines for 200+ Tbps of scale-up bandwidth in a liquid-cooled rack. Near-packaged optics keeps the pluggable model alive: Molex's connectors scale toward 448G, and Credo is building NPO PICs with customers.
Scale-up gets open standards at every layer
Broadcom's Ethernet for Scale-Up Networking group grew from 12 founders to 175 members with a 1.0 spec, five hyperscalers, and 10+ ODMs on board. The OCI MSA — Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, AMD, NVIDIA, and Broadcom — standardizes scale-up optics, and Xscape Photonics showed Falcon X as the first OCI-compliant pluggable laser. Upscale's Token Fabric unites scale-up and scale-out under one operating model, while Lumentum, Astera Labs, and Corning stretch optical PCIe across racks and rows.
Scale-across: the AI cluster spans buildings
Meta's keynote confirmed clusters now span buildings 2–10 km apart, linked by trenches carrying around a thousand fiber strands per conduit — validating 650 Group's raised coherent-lite forecast. Ciena's RLS Hyper Rail packs up to 128 fiber pairs per rack at 32x the density, Broadcom offers a Jericho 4-based scale-across portfolio, and Keysight now validates ZR, ZR+, and coherent-lite links alongside scale-up and scale-out.
800 volts, from the grid to the tray
Advanced Energy laid out both paths: rack power shelves that convert 800 V down to 50 V for today's trays, or 800 V straight into the tray with onboard conversion. Flex's EPC Power acquisition converts 34.5 kV directly to 800 V DC for roughly five points of efficiency, with solid-state transformers adding one to two more, and its pre-manufactured AI reference platform cuts deployment time by up to 50%. NVIDIA ties it together with tokens per watt as the metric.
Inference hits the memory wall — and the industry pushes back
Credo's OmniConnect Weaver chiplet delivers HBM4-class bandwidth with terabyte-class capacity, and Marvell's second-gen Structera X CXL controller cuts time to first token by 50%. d-Matrix disaggregated attention onto NVIDIA H100s and experts onto its Corsair nodes for 800+ tokens per second per user, and Rebellions reports most customers buying inference at rack scale rather than server by server.
AI is a system now — test, secure, and open it as one
Keysight argues qualifying any component means emulating the whole system around it, MultiLane notes one faulty connection among hundreds can stop a rack from shipping, and VIAVI tests from fiber to AI job performance. Marvell's Project Tessera rethinks cloud security for a world where AI agents outnumber employees 100 to one. Solutional calls this an "IBM moment" dominated by a few players — which is exactly why OCP's open alternatives matter.
Highlights from industry thought leaders

























Video interviews
Why Coherent-Lite Demand Is Taking Off
- Meta's day-one keynote confirmed AI clusters no longer fit in one building and now span sites 2–10 km apart.
- Those sites are linked by trenches of conduits, each carrying on the order of a thousand fiber strands.
- 650 Group raised its coherent-lite forecast for scale-across about two months before the show, and Meta's talk signals the market is taking off as projected.
Abstract
OCP 2026 Takeaways: CPO vs. NPO
- OCP 2026 was fundamentally an optics show, with heated NPO-versus-CPO debate settled by manufacturing scale and fit with XPU roadmaps.
- Laser demand is moving from hundreds of millions to billions, opening room for high-power lasers, VCSELs for scale-up and microLEDs for memory.
- Weckel expects an "all of the above" outcome, matching each technology to the workload for cost- and energy-optimized deployments.
Abstract
Powering AI Data Centers: Two Paths from 50V to 800V
- Advanced Energy supports both today's 50 V AI infrastructure and the industry's move to 800 V architectures.
- One path keeps 50 V trays and adds a rack power shelf that converts 800 V down to 50 V.
- The other brings 800 V into the tray, where a hot-swap power distribution board and onboard converters step down to 50, 12 or 6 V.
Abstract
Co-Packaged Optics Demo in a Liquid-Cooled Rack
- Ayar Labs, Wiwynn and Corning show an upgraded optical scale-up rack aimed at proving co-packaged optics can be built and delivered reliably at scale.
- It is the first live rack demo of Ayar Labs' TSMC COUPE-based optical engines, integrated with GPU and HBM in GUC multi-chip packages for more than 200 Tbps of scale-up bandwidth.
- Hours of fully liquid-cooled operation show stable micro-rings, lasers held near 50°C, and all components within their temperature ranges.
Abstract
How AI Powers Outcome-Driven Networking for Enterprises
- BE Networks positions itself as a control plane for large fabrics, edge deployments, private clouds and neoclouds.
- As hyperscaler technology flows down to enterprises, the company helps them build better networks.
- Its new outcome-driven networking moves beyond intent, using AI to deliver the result customers actually want rather than just the starting point.
Abstract
Why Ethernet Is Winning AI Networking
- The Ethernet for Scale-Up Networking work group has grown from 12 founding companies to 175 members and published its 1.0 specification.
- Five hyperscalers now use Ethernet for scale-up, with at least 10 ODMs building scale-up Ethernet racks.
- Tomahawk 6 is in volume production, joined by the Thor Ultra NIC (UEC- and MRC-compliant) and the Jericho 4-based scale-across portfolio.
Abstract
Making the Case for OCI
- Meta reports 225 million hours of operation on Broadcom's Tomahawk 5 CPO platform, and the Tomahawk 6 Davidson CPO platform is expected in production next year.
- The OCI MSA — founded by Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, AMD, NVIDIA, and Broadcom — standardizes optics for scale-up by decoupling electronics from optics.
- Its DWDM-on-a-CWDM-grid approach uses standard lasers rather than comb lasers, and the MSA plans to open to more members soon.
Abstract
Scaling AI Across Buildings: 32x Denser Networks for Hyperscalers
- Hyperscalers spreading AI clusters across buildings need massive scale-across capacity, which Ciena serves with coherent transceivers and new photonic line systems.
- The RLS terminal shelf, deployed in volume for single-span links, pairs 800G coherent pluggables across C and L bands with EDFA/Raman amplification and optical protection.
- RLS Hyper Rail supports 16 fiber pairs per system – up to 32x the density and 128 fiber pairs per rack – so hundreds of fibers share one amplifier hut.
Abstract
New USFP Open Optical Form Factor Scales to 12.8T
- USFP is a new open-standard optical module with 16 or 32 lanes at up to 400 Gbps per lane, scaling from 3.2T to 12.8T.
- It extends the OSFP model in manufacturing and field deployment, growing through faster lanes and wider widths.
- The module supports air cooling and system-level liquid cooling via a top-mounted cold plate, with no fluid fittings in the module.
Abstract
Breaking the AI Memory Wall: HBM4-Class Bandwidth
- AI inference is now memory bound rather than compute bound — processors sit idle waiting on memory bandwidth, the so-called memory wall.
- Credo's OmniConnect Weaver memory gearbox chiplet links an XPU to LPDDR memory, delivering HBM4-class bandwidth and terabyte-class capacity, and is available now.
- A two-board AMD Versal FPGA emulation lets customers run their own workloads and inject link errors on real hardware before final silicon.
Abstract
Scaling Silicon Photonics: 1.6T Optics, NPO, and 400G per Lane
- With DustPhotonics' PICs now part of Credo, the company offers a full 800G and 1.6T silicon photonics lineup ramping to very high volumes.
- Credo has spent six months scaling wafer supply and test capacity to serve external customers as well as its own internal product needs.
- A booth demo paired the Credo DSP with Credo silicon photonics at 1.6T, and next-generation PICs for near-packaged optics and 400G per lane are on the way.
Abstract
d-Matrix Attention Feed-Forward Disaggregation at 800+ Tokens/Sec
- d-Matrix announced Squadron, its cluster-scale solution, at the 2026 summit.
- A live attention feed-forward disaggregation (AFD) demo ran attention on NVIDIA H100 GPUs and experts on Corsair nodes, topping 800 tokens per second per user on a 20B-parameter model.
- Memory-bound expert workloads suit Corsair's memory-bandwidth-optimized design, enabling larger batches and keeping nodes efficiently utilized.
Abstract
Grid to Rack as One Power System
- Flex spans grid-level power through rack and board power to integrated rack and server manufacturing, so customers can treat the data center as one system.
- A new pre-manufactured, payload-agnostic AI reference platform cuts deployment times by up to 50%.
- The EPC Power acquisition converts 34.5 kV straight to 800 V DC for roughly five points of efficiency gain, with solid-state transformers adding one to two more.
Abstract
Validating Scale-Up, Scale-Out, and Scale-Across
- Scale-up brings a mix of high-speed copper and optical links plus new transports like Ethernet-based standards and UALink, all needing validation at speed.
- In scale-out Clos fabrics, congestion and incast cut GPU utilization – issues Keysight helps customers resolve in pre-deployment labs.
- AI is now about systems, not devices, so qualifying any component means emulating the entire system around it at scale.
Abstract
200-Terabit Optical Switch: Collaboration Advances AI Networking
- Lightmatter and Flex built a 1RU, 200-terabit optical switch through an OCP workstream, pairing a dense laser system and all-optical connectivity with Flex's modular fiber attach units and fiber trays.
- The work has moved from a contributed white paper to prescriptive specifications covering fiber connectors, optical loss, and other critical parameters.
- The prototype is a test vehicle for building supply-chain know-how with partners such as Senko (connectors) and JetCool (liquid cooling), and both companies invite wider participation in the OCP work group.
Abstract
Slow and Wide Optical PCIe
- Lumentum's 1060-nanometer VCSEL builds on its backside-emitting platform, already shipping in high volume for 3D sensing.
- A demo with Astera Labs and Corning extends optical PCIe Gen 5 and Gen 6 across multiple racks or rows.
- Lumentum argues a "slow and wide" approach to scale-up connectivity gives the best balance of performance and reliability.
Abstract
2nd-Gen CXL Cuts Time to First Token by 50%
- Second-gen Structera X is the first CXL memory expansion controller with six DDR4 and six DDR5 channels, adding 50% more capacity and bandwidth.
- Four-host connectivity, 5x better LZ4 compression, and built-in post-quantum cryptography raise utilization and security at rack level.
- By easing the AI memory wall, the new generation cuts time to first token by 50% over its predecessor.
Abstract
Introducing OCP's Project Tessera
- With AI agents outnumbering employees 100 to one, cloud security needs a fundamental rethink.
- Tessera is a new OCP initiative from Microsoft, Marvell, and Oracle, with Marvell's LiquidSecurity HSMs exchanging keys with Tessera on compute nodes.
- Both sides use NIST FIPS 140-3 Level 3 certified modules — the first step in a multi-year effort to secure AI and confidential computing.
Abstract
Copper vs. Fiber in AI Scale-Up: Why Optics Are Moving Inside the Box
- Larger AI scale-up clusters push optics into shorter parts of the channel that copper has traditionally owned, moving the fiber-versus-copper decision off the front panel.
- Near-package optics keep a pluggable, modular approach while avoiding the challenges of co-packaged optics on the substrate.
- Molex's Mirror Mezz Enhanced, Gemini and other mezzanine connectors scale from 224G toward 448G, alongside its second-source Si-Fly HD for the OpenCPX MSA.
Abstract
One Faulty Connection Can Stall GPU Revenue
- MultiLane, part of the Teradyne group, offers wafer-to-rack test aimed at reducing the risk of delayed GPU revenue.
- Every AI system element – ASIC, cartridge, cable harness, GPU and switch trays – has hundreds of connections, and one fault can stop the whole system from shipping.
- Its backplane cable cartridge tester uses an Amphenol connector to verify every GPU-to-GPU pin at a functional data rate.
Abstract
NVIDIA's Power Efficiency Leap: CPO & 800V Racks
- NVIDIA optimizes for tokens per watt, using liquid cooling and 800-volt racks to raise compute density and steer more power to GPUs.
- NVIDIA Photonics co-packaged optics is shipping, improving scale-out network power efficiency by nearly 5x and resiliency by 10x.
- Future scale-up generations will use CPO beyond the rack, while the new USFP pluggable, built with Cisco and Amphenol, carries 12.8 Tb/s in one module.
Abstract
Efficient AI Inference at Rack Scale
- Rebellions builds inference infrastructure end to end, pairing its in-house Rebel 100 accelerator with a software stack tuned for serving tokens economically.
- An open-source, no-fork software strategy lets customers keep their existing tools and models without learning new skills.
- Because inference is a rack-scale problem, most customers deploy Rebel Rack or Rebel Pod rather than individual servers.
Abstract
Open Infrastructure, Neoclouds & Supply Chain
- AI data centers are in an "IBM moment" led by a few integrated players, and OCP gives momentum to those seeking open, interoperable alternatives.
- Robohn's top short-term wish is better delivery timelines, backed by more US silicon production and manufacturing capacity.
- Neoclouds are not monolithic – large providers like CoreWeave and Crusoe face different multi-tenancy networking needs than smaller players like FarmGPU.
Abstract
Uniting Scale-Up and Scale-Out in One Fabric
- Token Fabric is Upscale's open standards-based fabric that unites scale-up and scale-out into one operational domain with a single software and operating model.
- Unifying the fabric gives customers more control, visibility and resiliency, tackling the network bottlenecks that keep AI accelerators below peak utilization.
- No single company can build the future of AI alone — Upscale partners with NVIDIA on scale-out and works across ASIC and optics form factors to push heterogeneity from silicon to software.
Abstract
Why Test & Measurement Drives AI Job Performance
- The industry is entering the steep part of the AI "hockey stick," and test and measurement is now seen as critical to scaling it.
- VIAVI covers every layer from fiber, optics and transceivers through signal integrity and protocol compliance to the AI switching fabric.
- Its portfolio spans PCIe compliance, Ethernet transceiver testers, AI workload emulation and optics manufacturing test.
Abstract
From LiDAR to Optical Circuit Switching
- Voyant is bringing seven years of dense, high-yield silicon photonic switch work from LiDAR to optical circuit switching.
- AI scale-up architectures need OCS with a very small form factor, fast switching and low cost – where Nouvel says Voyant has a head start.
- Voyant sells engines and modules to OCS vendors chasing hyperscalers, positioning it for rapid scale-up deployments expected around 2029.
Abstract
Solving the Data Center Bandwidth Bottleneck
- Xscape's multicolor laser platform generates up to 100 wavelengths from a single piece of silicon to ease the data center escape bandwidth bottleneck.
- Eagle X, its first scale-up product, carries 16 wavelengths on one fiber and has more than 300,000 device hours of reliability data.
- Falcon X, billed as the first OCI MSA-compliant pluggable laser module, is shown driving a 50G NRZ compliant link.
Abstract
Xsight's 200G DPU for Edge AI & Space Computing
- The new E1L is a 200G DPU for edge environments, built on Arm Neoverse N2 cores and compatible with the existing E-series line.
- Its small power budget lets it run agentic AI workloads at the edge by offloading the CPU in power-constrained settings.
- SpaceX deploys Xsight's X2 programmable switches on V3 satellites, where remote programmability is essential.
Abstract
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