GlobalFoundries (GF) has acquired silicon photonics foundry Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), which the company claims makes it the largest silicon photonics pure-play foundry globally by revenue.
The acquisition will not only expand GF’s silicon photonics technology portfolio but will also increase its production capacity and R&D in Singapore. The goal is to complement GF’s existing technology capabilities in the U.S. and other market opportunities in the data center and communications segments.
Under the deal, GF will bring AMF’s manufacturing assets, intellectual property and skilled workers to produce applications like:
- Long-haul optical communications
- Computing
- Lidar
- Sensing
GF plans to eventually scale AMF’s Singaporean fab to 300 mm wafers for continued growth in these sectors. The acquisition will also accelerate its supply chain resiliency and allow customers to source secure, differentiated solutions from multiple geographies, GF said.
Why silicon photonics
The technology is an emerging process that uses light to transfer data between and within data centers. This improves performance and energy efficiency.
GF said silicon photonics is essential for AI infrastructure and as data continues to move faster and workloads become more complex, moving data at greater speeds, precision and power efficiency will be critical to future data centers and telecom networks.
“Acquiring AMF enables GF to deliver an expanded, and differentiated, decade-long roadmap for pluggable transceivers and co-packaged optics, while accelerating growth of photonics into adjacent markets such as automotive and quantum computing,” said Tim Breen, CEO of GF.
R&D center
Additionally, GF said it will establish a silicon photonics R&D center of excellence in Singapore. The center will work with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore’s largest R&D agency.
The goal of the center will be to advance GF’s silicon photonic roadmap, which will focus on new materials for fast data transfer at 400 Gbps speed.
Why it matters
GF has been very active in 2025 with making deals and acquisitions. This is in addition to the company’s pledge to a $16 billion reshoring effort for chipmaking in the domestic U.S.
In August of 2025, GF completed its acquisition of MIPS, an IP vendor that gives the foundry additional capabilities for AI, edge computing and other high growth markets.
Other deals made in 2025 include:
- Expansion of GaN portfolio with a deal with TSMC.
- A deal with Cirrus Logic for next generation BCD process technology.
- A rumored merger with UMC.
