New research predicts the total capacity of data centers in the U.S. will more than double by 2030: AI data center demand is not slowing down, but neither is Xscape Photonics.
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2026 has been the most consequential year since our company’s founding, and we’re only seven months through. That success is thanks to the hard work of every single member of the global Xscape Photonics team as well as the ongoing support of our investors, partners and customers.
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In this blog entry, I want to reflect on this progress, celebrating the milestones we have achieved while looking forward to an even brighter future.

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FalconX: Launching Our First Product

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In March, we launched our first product: FalconX, the industry's first fully redundant External Laser Small Form-factor Pluggable that can generate up to eight wavelengths of light from a single module. Built on our proprietary CombX laser, FalconX packs more than 1W of optical power into a pluggable form factor, enabling multi-terabit-per-second data transmission while addressing the "escape bandwidth" bottleneck that has become a defining constraint for large-scale AI training and inference.

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AI clusters have grown more than tenfold over the past two years, and hyperscalers have made clear they need a significant improvement in reliability from optical components as clusters scale. FalconX was designed from the beginning with built-in redundancy, robust components and compliance with industry MSA standards for scale-up and scale-out fabric links, so it can be qualified into existing hyperscaler infrastructure without a redesign.

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Alongside the FalconX launch, we announced $37 million in new funding led by Addition, bringing our total Series A to $81 million and roughly doubling our valuation. That capital, combined with continued backing from IAG Capital Partners, NVIDIA and others, is fuel for exactly the kind of scale-up work we are now conducting.

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ARPA-E Backs U.S. Manufacturing of FalconX

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In July, the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E selected Xscape Photonics for its SCALEUP Ready program, one of two projects nationally to receive support in this round. This funding is specifically earmarked to accelerate the manufacturing and commercialization of FalconX and, critically, to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity here in the U.S.

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Acceptance into this program isn’t just about capital: it is validation that Xscape Photonics’ path from testing lab-proven photonics to manufacturing hyperscale-ready, U.S.-made hardware is one the federal government sees as strategically viable. It also means we can move faster on ramping FalconX production to meet the volumes our customers are demanding.
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Built for Where the Market Is Headed: NPO and CPO

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One question we get constantly: where does FalconX fit as data centers move toward near-packaged optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO)? The answer is that FalconX is designed for exactly this transition.

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As switch and accelerator packages move optics closer to the compute die to save power and increase bandwidth, those architectures still need an external, replaceable, high-reliability laser source. FalconX's pluggable, multi-wavelength design lets it serve as that external light source for both NPO and CPO designs today, without forcing operators to bet the whole architecture on a single vendor's laser-on-package approach.

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Joining the OCI MSA Coalition

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Finally, in May, Xscape Photonics helped launch a new coalition to scale optical interconnect adoption in AI data centers alongside leading technology companies including 3M, AMD, Cisco, Meta, Oracle and others.

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The coalition is focused on advancing open and interoperable specifications for expanded beam optical (EBO) connectivity in AI infrastructure. The goal is to create a more resilient ecosystem that will enable more efficient adoption of EBO technologies for higher reliability, easier maintenance and higher performance in hyperscale and enterprise AI deployments.

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More information about the EBO Multi-Source Agreement Group can be found on the group website: https://ebomsa.org.

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Brightening the Future of AI Data Centers

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FalconX is just the first rung on our ChromX platform roadmap toward 16, 32 and eventually 128+ wavelengths. With production ramping, new capital in place and standards alignment underway, Xscape Photonics is extremely well positioned to brighten the future of AI data centers.

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We look forward to sharing even more exciting news in the months to come. We also look forward to connecting with our partners and peers in person during the upcoming slate of industry conferences, including at ECOC in September and OCP in October.

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In the meantime, the entire Xscape Photonics team will be hard at work, scaling FalconX in the market while continuing to develop the optical technologies that will underpin the AI networking infrastructure of the future.

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