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PsiQuantum has demonstrated an 8×8 optical circuit switch built on its silicon photonics platform, reporting 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in under 3 milliseconds. The company is sharing samples with selected prospective customers but has not announced commercial specifications, pricing or availability.
PsiQuantum has unveiled an 8×8 optical circuit switching demonstration aimed at connecting AI data center computing systems, reporting lab results of 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in less than 3 milliseconds. The quantum-computing company says it is sharing demonstration samples with selected prospective customers as it develops commercial products.
The demonstration uses PsiQuantum’s low-loss silicon photonics platform, which the company says it has developed for nearly a decade for utility-scale quantum computing. In testing at its laboratories, PsiQuantum reported typical insertion loss of 1.2 dB, crosstalk of 40 dB and switching reconfiguration time below 3 milliseconds. The company said those results exceeded its initial targets and were achieved without optical amplification.
PsiQuantum describes the device as an 8×8-radix demonstration vehicle, not a broadly available commercial product. It is providing samples to a select group of prospective customers and says it is advancing the platform toward commercial offerings that it plans to announce in the coming months. The announcement did not give a price, shipping schedule or detailed customer commitments.
The company says its initial optical-switching products do not require barium titanate (BTO), a material it has integrated at 300-millimeter wafer scale. PsiQuantum says it uses a 64×64 BTO switch in its quantum systems and views BTO integration as a potential route to faster, more advanced future products. That capability is separate from the silicon photonics demonstration described in this announcement.
Optical Links for Larger AI Clusters
AI systems rely on networks to move data among computing resources, and PsiQuantum is positioning optical circuit switching as one way to address connectivity demands as those systems grow. The reported measurements offer prospective customers an initial technical indication of the device’s loss, crosstalk and reconfiguration performance. They do not, on their own, establish how the switch performs in a full data center or at commercial scale.
The announcement also points to a possible near-term commercial use for technology developed in PsiQuantum’s quantum-computing program. If customers adopt the platform, AI infrastructure could become a market for the company while it continues work on fault-tolerant quantum computers. PsiQuantum argues that more capable AI infrastructure could also support the design and operation of quantum systems; that is the company’s view of the relationship, rather than a demonstrated outcome of this switch announcement.
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From Quantum Photonics to Data Centers
PsiQuantum has developed silicon photonics for its stated goal of building fault-tolerant quantum computers. The company says the technical requirements for that work exceed many of those required for optical switching in AI data centers. The new demonstration applies the platform to a different infrastructure market; it does not mark a change in PsiQuantum’s stated quantum-computing objective.
The company’s announcement follows a September 2026 development: PsiQuantum said it had signed definitive documentation with the U.S. Department of Commerce to accelerate research and development, domestic manufacturability and performance of critical components, including optical switches. The available source does not specify how that agreement relates to production plans for the 8×8 demonstration or any future commercial product.
“This opportunity exists because we chose to solve the hardest scaling problems at the beginning of our roadmap to utility-scale quantum computing.”
— Victor Peng, chief executive officer of PsiQuantum
Commercial Performance Still Unreported
The figures released are PsiQuantum’s laboratory results; the announcement does not identify an independent test, a detailed test protocol or performance in a deployed data center. It is not yet clear how the demonstration will perform under sustained operating conditions, how it will integrate with customer networks, or what capacity and reliability commercial products will offer.
PsiQuantum has not named the prospective customers receiving samples, disclosed product pricing or provided a specific release date. The company also has not quantified how the 8×8 device compares with alternative optical switching systems on total system cost, power use or data center performance. Those details will be needed to assess commercial adoption.
Customer Samples and Product Plans
PsiQuantum says it is sharing demonstration samples with selected prospective customers and advancing the platform toward commercial products. The company plans to announce those products in the coming months, but has not supplied a firm date. Any product announcement or customer deployment could provide further information about specifications, manufacturing plans and intended uses.
For now, the next milestones are customer evaluation and clarification of how the lab results translate to real-world data center networks. PsiQuantum says its AI infrastructure work will proceed alongside its quantum-computing program; the announcement gives no change to the timeline or status of that longer-term effort.
Key Questions
What did PsiQuantum announce?
It unveiled an 8×8 optical circuit switching demonstration for AI data center connectivity, built on its silicon photonics platform.
What performance results did the company report?
PsiQuantum reported typical lab results of 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in under 3 milliseconds, without optical amplification. These are company-reported measurements, not independent test results in the material provided.
Can customers buy the switch now?
The announcement describes a demonstration vehicle. PsiQuantum says it is sharing samples with selected prospective customers and developing commercial products, but has not announced pricing or availability.
Does the demonstration use barium titanate?
No. PsiQuantum says BTO is not required for this demonstration or its initial products. The company describes BTO integration as a possible route to faster, more advanced future products.
Source: rss
