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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 less than 3 milliseconds. The company is sending demonstration samples to selected prospective customers and says it plans commercial products; independent validation, product specifications and launch timing remain unclear.
PsiQuantum has demonstrated an 8×8 optical circuit switch intended for AI data center networks, reporting test 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 units with selected prospective customers as it develops commercial products, but the measurements are from its own laboratory testing.
The demonstration uses PsiQuantum’s low-loss silicon photonics platform, which the company says it has developed for nearly a decade to support utility-scale quantum computing. In its announcement, PsiQuantum said laboratory tests produced typical results of 1.2 dB insertion loss and 40 dB crosstalk, with switching reconfiguration in under 3 ms. It said the device achieved these results without optical amplification and exceeded its initial targets.
The device is an 8×8-radix demonstration vehicle, not a general commercial product announcement. PsiQuantum said selected prospective customers are receiving samples and that it is advancing the platform toward products it expects to announce in the coming months. The company did not identify those customers in the supplied announcement.
PsiQuantum also said its demonstration and initial products do not require barium titanate (BTO) integration. The company says it has developed BTO integration at 300 mm wafer scale and uses a 64×64 BTO switch in its quantum systems, presenting that work as a potential route to more advanced future products. The current switch’s stated results, however, are attributed to the company’s testing rather than an independent evaluation.
Optical Switching for AI Networks
AI data centers rely on connections among large pools of computing hardware, and the demands of moving data between those systems rise as deployments expand. An optical circuit switch directs light along selected paths through a network. If a product can meet performance, reliability and cost requirements at scale, it could give operators another way to connect and reconfigure data center resources using optical technology.
PsiQuantum’s announcement matters because it brings a platform developed for quantum computing into a second potential market. The company argues that its work on demanding photonics requirements can support AI infrastructure now while it continues pursuing fault-tolerant quantum computers. That is a company strategy, not evidence yet that the switch has been adopted or that it will improve data center performance in operation. The reported measurements are a demonstration milestone; customer trials and commercial deployment would be needed to show how the device performs in real network conditions.
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From Quantum Photonics to Data Centers
PsiQuantum has built its photonics platform as part of its effort to develop fault-tolerant quantum computers. The company says its quantum-computing work has led it to pursue component performance requirements that exceed many of those needed for optical switching in AI data centers. The present announcement applies that underlying silicon photonics work to a different infrastructure problem.
The company’s October 28 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 supplied material does not specify the terms or funding associated with that documentation, so it does not establish how it will affect production of this particular device.
““As AI computing pushes infrastructure to its limits, we now have an opportunity to put our state-of-the-art technology to work today while continuing toward our ultimate goal: building and deploying the world’s first useful, fault-tolerant quantum computers.””
— Victor Peng, PsiQuantum chief executive
Customer Trials and Product Details
The announcement does not name the prospective customers receiving samples or say whether any have agreed to evaluate or buy the switch. It also provides no independent test results, deployment data or comparison with competing products. The company’s laboratory figures do not by themselves establish performance across a full data center network.
Details needed to assess commercial readiness remain unavailable, including pricing, power use, reliability over time, manufacturing capacity, supported network configurations and a firm release date. PsiQuantum says its commercial products will be announced in the coming months, but the specific schedule and final product specifications have not been disclosed.
Commercial Product Announcements Ahead
PsiQuantum says it will continue providing demonstration samples to selected prospective customers and developing the platform toward commercial products. The next public milestones are likely to include product specifications and further information about availability, which the company says it expects to announce in the coming months. No dates beyond that general timeframe have been provided.
For customers and the broader data center industry, evidence from evaluations and details on manufacturing and deployment will help show whether the device can move from a laboratory demonstration to a useful network component. PsiQuantum has not announced customer trial outcomes or commercial orders.
Key Questions
What did PsiQuantum demonstrate?
It demonstrated an 8×8 optical circuit switch built on its silicon photonics platform and aimed at AI data center connectivity.
What performance results did the company report?
PsiQuantum reported typical laboratory results of 1.2 dB insertion loss, 40 dB crosstalk performance and reconfiguration in less than 3 milliseconds, without optical amplification. These are company-reported tests, not independent results in the supplied material.
Is the switch commercially available?
No commercial release was announced. PsiQuantum says it is sharing demonstration samples with selected prospective customers and plans to announce commercial products in the coming months.
Does the demonstration use barium titanate?
No. PsiQuantum says BTO is not required for the demonstration vehicle or its initial products. The company describes BTO integration as a possible path for more advanced future products.
Source: rss
