Huawei is doubling down on its bet that near-packaged optics (NPO) is the interconnect technology capable of meeting the scale needed for AI infrastructure buildout.. At the China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) in Shenzhen, the vendor unveiled a 7.2 Tb/s (7.2T) module set to feature in next-generation iterations of its SuperPod platform.
Jiangwei Man, director of Huawei’s advanced optoelectronics laboratory, described it in a press briefing as a “manifestation” of technologies Huawei has accumulated over the years, including laser systems like vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and silicon photonics.. Optical interconnects have quickly pushed to the forefront of intrigue for AI infrastructure developers, though considerable attention has been put on co-packaged optics (CPO).
The likes of SK Hynix, Nvidia, and Microsoft are all throwing their weight behind the technology, which involves embedded optical engines on the same substrate or package as the semiconductor. NPO gets its name from the fact that optical engines are embedded immediately adjacent to the chip instead..
While California-based Lightmatter is leading the charge to define CPO standards, that effort is one of a number that Man and Huawei argue are increasingly fragmenting the overall optoelectronic standards and products. The vendor was one of several to sign on to a NPO multisource agreement launched earlier this year and wants to create a unified front supporting what it believes to be the more mature high-speed optical interconnect solution..
22 Sep 2025. Huawei is backing the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), making the case that NPO is more feasible today than CPO for large-scale deployments, providing lower power and latency and a more supply chain-friendly alternative.. “Compared with CPO, the NPO technology is more mature, making it easier for production ramp-up and it’s easier for maintenance,” Man said, via a translator.
“We urgently need authoritative standards organizations to advance NPO standardization. Within standards organizations, people are discussing these two choices: NPO and CPO [and] which one is better. So, in order to promote the initiation of [the] NPO standard project, we need to collaborate with other parties along this industry chain to foster this synergy.”.
OIF’s NPO project kicked off in the summer, with vendors coming together to develop initial standards around modules capable of supporting 6.4T and later 12.8T.. Man said Huawei would be “more than happy” to share its NPO offering with customers in the downstream as well as suppliers on the upstream side..
There are some rumblings, though, that the US President Donald Trump administration is mulling expanding semiconductor export restrictions that have hampered Chinese vendors further down the stack, with pluggable optics believed to be in the crosshairs.. While Man didn’t discuss how that could impact module development in response to an SDxCentral question, he said increased interest reflects that NPO technologies are already playing an important role in the optical interconnect part of the AI stack..
“In terms of the whole NPO industry chain, Huawei is committed to openness and collaboration. We are happy to work with vendors from different regions, including vendors from the U.S., from China, and from Japan, so together we can advance the development of the NPO ecosystem and ultimately contribute to the booming AI ecosystem,” Man added..
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