A new technical paper titled “Photonics for Sustainable AI” has been published by researchers at Boston University, NY CREATES, Lightmatter and Cornell Tech.
Abstract
“The increasing computing demands of artificial intelligence (AI) are leading to a rapid increase in carbon emissions from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Traditional CMOS-based computing is reaching its scalability limits and struggling to meet these immense demands in a carbon-sustainable manner, underscoring the need for alternative hardware solutions for AI. Photonic computing has emerged as a promising alternative to CMOS thanks to its energy-efficient computing capabilities in the optical domain. This perspective explores the potential of photonics as a sustainable carbon solution for next-generation AI hardware.
Find the technical document here. October 2025.
Fayza, F., Demirkiran, C., Papa Rao, S. et al. Photonics for sustainable AI. Commun Phys 8, 403 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02300-0