In one of the year’s largest semiconductor acquisitions, Marvell Technology has announced it will acquire photonics startup Celestial AI in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion. The acquisition brings cutting-edge “photonic fabric” technology that uses light to connect AI accelerators to memory.
Celestial AI’s photonic interconnect technology addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in AI computing: data movement between processors and memory. By using light instead of electrical signals, the technology can achieve significantly higher bandwidth while consuming less power.
Acquisition Highlights
- $3.25 billion cash-and-stock deal
- Photonic fabric technology for AI data centers
- 10x bandwidth improvement over current solutions
- 50% reduction in power consumption
- Expected to close in Q1 2026
Marvell’s CEO stated that the acquisition positions the company to lead in next-generation AI infrastructure as data centers seek more efficient ways to scale AI workloads.
