China's rush into light-based semiconductors threatens NVidia

Video: China's rush into light-based semiconductors threatens NVidia, CHIPS Act fab plants with total loss 中國對光基半導體的熱潮威脅著英偉達、CHIPS法案晶圓廠的全面虧損

Conventional semiconductor chips funnel electrons through gates, switching transistors on and off. Photon-based chips will use light, instead of electricity. Photon chips will be orders of magnitude faster, with dramatically reduced power requirements.

Yao Yang is a dean and key policy official at Peking University, one of China's most prestigious institutions. He is one of several top industry insiders who predict that China will be the first to commercialize light-based semiconductors, leaping forward of the United States, Japan, and Europe, and in just a few years. If he is right, tens of billions of dollars in semiconductor fabrication plants will be at risk.

Also at risk are Western chipmakers who build design and build convention, electron-powered chipsets. NVidia is now the world's most valuable chip design company, now with a market capitalization of around $3 trillion. But NVidia is struggling to compete against Huawei's conventional chip in China, meanwhile other Chinese researchers have announced a light-based chip 3,000 times faster than NVidia's best chip.

傳統的半導體晶片透過閘極輸送電子，從而打開和關閉電晶體。 基於光子的晶片將使用光而不是電。 光子晶片的速度將會提高幾個數量級，同時功耗需求也會大幅降低。

姚洋是中國最負盛名的學府之一北京大學的院長兼重要政策官員。 他是預測中國將在短短幾年內超越美國、日本和歐洲，率先實現光基半導體商業化的幾位頂級業內人士之一。 如果他是對的，數百億美元的半導體製造工廠將面臨風險。

同樣面臨風險的是進行設計和製造常規電子驅動晶片組的西方晶片製造商。 NVidia現在是全球最有價值的晶片設計公司，目前市值約3兆美元。 但 NVidia 正在努力與華為的傳統晶片在中國競爭，與此同時，其他中國研究人員已經宣布推出一款基於光的晶片，速度比 NVidia 最好的晶片快 3,000 倍.