Co-Packaged Optics (CPO): Redefining Optical Interconnects for AI Data Centers

As artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and cloud services continue to scale, data center networks are under unprecedented pressure. Global data traffic is growing at close to a 30% compound annual rate, and nearly 75% of that traffic remains within the data center itself. This rapid growth is pushing traditional optical interconnect architectures toward both physical and economic limits. To address these challenges, the industry is increasingly turning to Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)—a next-generation optical interconnect architecture designed specifically for the AI era. Why Traditional Optical Interconnects Are Reaching Their Limits Modern switch ASICs and AI accelerators are advancing faster than the interconnect technologies that connect them. As network speeds transition from 800G toward 1.6T and beyond, conventional pluggable optical modules face several structural constraints that are difficult to resolve through incremental optimization alone. Bandwidth