Mark Wade

Stories

The race to replace copper inside AI data centers

Leading Ayar Labs through production scale-up after $650M in 2026 primary funding

When engineers double a copper cable's data rate, electrical noise doubles and usable length halves—strangling the AI industry. As graphics processing units (GPUs) push toward 224 gigabits per second per lane, passive copper cables inside data centers reach less than one meter before the signal degrades.

Updated Nov 2

Notable Quotes

"This funding tackles one of AI's toughest roadblocks: moving data fast enough between processors. Copper connections just can't keep up—they're hitting their physical and energy limits." — Mark Wade, March 2026

from The race to replace copper inside AI data centers · Updated Nov 2

"Copper interconnect is becoming the limiting factor for AI scale-up. This funding allows us to move faster on manufacturing-ready co-packaged optics at scale." — Mark Wade, September 2026

from The race to replace copper inside AI data centers · Updated Nov 2