GlobalFoundries (GF) and Marvell have expanded their multi‑year agreement to increase silicon germanium (SiGe) capacity at GF's Burlington, Vermont fab, supporting next‑generation optical interconnect products. The announcement did not disclose investment amounts, capacity additions, or production timelines. GF shares rose ~4% and Marvell ~6.3% on the news.

The added capacity will produce high‑speed, low‑power chips for pluggable optical modules, near‑package optics (NPO), and co‑packaged optics (CPO) . As AI data centers scale, data transfer efficiency between chips is becoming as critical as accelerator performance – making optical interconnect a key enabler.

SiGe process is central to the expansion. GF's SiGe technology meets the high‑frequency, signal integrity, and low‑power demands of optical networking, supporting 200G per lane and progressing toward higher speeds. GF has over a decade of SiGe manufacturing experience and is integrating SiGe, silicon photonics, and advanced packaging for NPO/CPO architectures. GF's communications infrastructure and data center business has grown double‑digits YoY for seven consecutive quarters, driven by SiGe and silicon photonics demand.

For Marvell, the deal locks in capacity for its next‑gen optical products. Robb Johnson, VP of foundry technology, noted that AI is reshaping data center architecture and optical interconnect is increasingly critical to unlocking system performance.

The agreement covers pluggable, NPO, and CPO routes – not a single product line – strengthening supply chain readiness for future optical interconnect ramp.

ICgoodFind Takeaway:
AI compute is pushing optical interconnect to the forefront. GF and Marvell's SiGe capacity expansion prepares the supply chain for NPO/CPO adoption – buyers should track high‑speed optical chip availability as these architectures scale.