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Linque CEO Samarth Vadia: Bringing Programmable Silicon Photonics to the Data Center

EE Times
EE Times•Jun 5, 2026

Why It Matters

Programmable silicon photonics could slash data‑center power use while scaling AI compute, positioning Linque as a pivotal supplier in the emerging high‑density optical switching market.

Key Takeaways

  • •Linque develops programmable silicon photonics chips for AI data centers.
  • •Electro‑optic design reduces loss, footprint, and boosts switching speed.
  • •First product in customers’ hands; proof‑of‑concept validation ongoing.
  • •Optical switching promises ~20× power efficiency over electronic alternatives.
  • •NSTC award grants Taiwan ecosystem access and financing for volume production.

Summary

Linque CEO Samarth Vadia outlined the company’s mission to bring programmable silicon photonics chips to AI‑focused data centers. The startup, a spin‑off from LMU Munich, recently won an NSTC prize that opens doors to Taiwan’s semiconductor and photonics ecosystem, providing both technical partners and financial support.

Vadia explained that Linque’s electro‑optic architecture cuts optical loss and shrinks chip footprint, enabling far more components than traditional transceiver‑only designs. By modulating light’s phase within interferometers, the chips achieve rapid, low‑power switching—claimed to be roughly twenty times more efficient than electronic alternatives. The firm has already shipped its first product to early‑stage data‑center customers for proof‑of‑concept validation and is now focusing on reliability and scaling to volume production.

A key milestone is the planned 64‑radix optical switch, which Vadia says will demonstrate the technology’s scalability and cost advantages. The NSTC award not only supplies a cash prize but also grants access to foundries, OSATs, and OEMs in Taiwan, positioning Linque to move from prototype to high‑volume manufacturing.

If successful, Linque’s chips could dramatically reduce data‑center power consumption and enable denser, faster AI workloads, giving early adopters a competitive edge while reshaping the photonics supply chain.

Original Description

In this video interview at Computex 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan, EE Times' Nitin Dahad spoke to Samarth Vadia, CEO and co-founder of Linq, a startup focused on programmable silicon photonics technology for the data center.
The company says it has developed a low-loss photonic fabric optimized for information processing on chip by combining advanced semiconductor materials with scalable manufacturing to enable energy-efficient hardware for future computing workloads. Its' first product in all-optical networking is the Linque RISE, which Vadia said is currently developed and deployed with various customers and partners in the AI training and inference space.
Linque is also a winner of the 2026 IC Taiwan Grand Challenge (ICTGC), a global innovation competition focused on accelerating breakthrough semiconductor and deep technology solutions, and organized by Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
In thsi video interview, he explains more about the startup company, which spun out of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), what the company's value proposition is, and the significance of being awarded the ICTGC.
Watch the video interview at the link.
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