0
Deep & Emerging Tech·September 11, 2026·1 min read

Ayar Labs, which is developing a way to link AI chips directly with optical connections, raised $150M, an extension of its $500M Series E in March 2026

Share

Another $150M into Ayar Labs on top of a $500M Series E says the bottleneck is now chip-to-chip bandwidth, not just more GPUs. If you're planning multi-rack or multi-cluster AI systems, you should be modeling when electrical interconnects break and what an optical roadmap would demand from your data center design.

Deep & Emerging Tech

Source and draft press release: the Trump admin will lend $100M to Africell, Africa's only US-owned telecom company, aiming to counter Huawei's Africa expansion

A $100M loan to Africell is another proof that telecom buildout in Africa is now an explicit geopolitical instrument, not just a commercial market. Infra operators on the continent should expect more tied financing, vendor preferences, and political conditions baked into what used to be neutral capex decisions.