GlobalFoundries has moved to deepen its position in silicon photonics with the acquisition of Singapore-based Advanced Micro Foundry. Announced on November 17, 2025, the deal positions the company as the largest pure-play silicon photonics foundry by revenue. It also reinforces GlobalFoundries’ ambition to play a central role in the fast-growing AI and high-bandwidth communications infrastructure market.
Strengthening GF’s Silicon Photonics Position
The acquisition brings AMF’s manufacturing assets, intellectual property, and technical team under the GlobalFoundries umbrella. By integrating more than 15 years of AMF process know-how, GlobalFoundries significantly broadens its silicon photonics technology stack and customer offering. The combined platform is designed to address a wider set of applications, from long-haul optical links to emerging sensing and computing use cases.
Boosting Capacity for AI and Communications
As copper interconnects approach their physical and efficiency limits, silicon photonics is becoming a critical technology for moving data within and between data centers. GlobalFoundries plans to use AMF’s 200 mm manufacturing line in Singapore, with a roadmap to scale to 300 mm as customer demand increases. This added capacity is targeted at AI data centers, advanced telecom networks, LiDAR systems, and other next-generation applications that require high-speed, power-efficient data movement.
Singapore as a Hub for R&D and Manufacturing
The transaction deepens GlobalFoundries’ footprint in Singapore, complementing its expanding silicon photonics manufacturing in New York. The company intends to set up a silicon photonics center of excellence in Singapore to anchor future innovation. This dual-continent setup is positioned to improve supply chain resilience for customers that want secure, differentiated sourcing from multiple regions.
Partnership with A*STAR and Technology Roadmap
As part of the acquisition strategy, GlobalFoundries plans to collaborate with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research. The planned center of excellence will focus on next-generation materials and architectures aimed at pushing data transfer speeds to 400 Gbps and beyond. The goal is to enhance the company’s silicon photonics platform so customers can deploy faster, more secure data links in demanding environments.
Complementary Expertise and Market Reach
Leadership from both companies highlight the strategic fit between GlobalFoundries and AMF. GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen underscores that silicon photonics is now foundational for AI infrastructure, and that the combined roadmap will span pluggable transceivers, co-packaged optics, and adjacent markets such as automotive and quantum computing. AMF CEO Jagadish CV points to aligned cultures around innovation and close customer engagement, noting that the merged portfolio will serve a broader range of sectors and geographies.
Background on Advanced Micro Foundry and GF
Advanced Micro Foundry has built its reputation as a specialist silicon photonics foundry offering prototyping, volume manufacturing, and testing. Its in-house developed process design kits support customers in telecom, data centers, LiDAR, and sensor markets, helping accelerate the commercialization of photonic devices. GlobalFoundries, for its part, is a major global foundry supplying essential semiconductors to industries spanning automotive, mobile, IoT, and communications infrastructure, with facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Risks, Forward-Looking Statements, and Market Outlook
The company acknowledges that expected benefits from the AMF acquisition are subject to execution and market risks. Integration challenges, potential disruption to customer or supplier relationships, and delays in technology or product ramp could affect outcomes. GlobalFoundries points investors to its regulatory filings for a fuller discussion of these risks and stresses that projections related to silicon photonics growth and AI infrastructure demand may evolve over time.
With the acquisition of Advanced Micro Foundry, GlobalFoundries is making a clear bet on silicon photonics as a core enabler of future AI and communications infrastructure. The deal combines specialized manufacturing, intellectual property, and research capabilities to create a larger, more diversified photonics platform. If integration and roadmap execution proceed as planned, the company will be well placed to support a new era of ultra-fast, energy-efficient data movement across global networks.