GlobalFoundries Acquires Singapore Foundry, Accelerates Silicon Photonics Leadership

GlobalFoundries announced today that it has acquired Advanced Micro Foundry, a Singapore based silicon photonics foundry, in a strategic move to broaden its technology portfolio and scale production and research capabilities in the region. The deal positions GlobalFoundries to accelerate development of silicon photonics, a family of technologies that integrate optical components with traditional semiconductor processes and are increasingly critical to the performance and energy efficiency of large scale artificial intelligence systems.

Advanced Micro Foundry, known within the industry for its wafer fabrication and specialized optical device processes, will become part of GlobalFoundries’ global manufacturing network. The company said the acquisition will expand production capacity and research and development activities in Singapore, complementing existing technology capabilities in the United States. The transaction underscores GlobalFoundries’ commitment to deepening its role in the supply chain for components that enable high bandwidth, low latency links between chips and across servers.

Silicon photonics converts electrical signals to light and back to move data at much higher speeds with lower power consumption than conventional copper wiring. In recent years demand for optical interconnects has risen in tandem with the growth of generative AI and other compute intensive applications that require rapid data movement across memory and processors. Industry analysts cite silicon photonics as a key enabler for next generation data centers and networking equipment, and foundry scale is often seen as a bottleneck for commercial deployment.

By bringing Advanced Micro Foundry into its fold, GlobalFoundries seeks to offer customers a broader suite of options for integrating photonic functions with advanced node semiconductor manufacturing. The acquisition may also help reduce lead times for complex optical components and provide closer collaboration between device design, process engineers and system architects building AI accelerators and networking gear.

The move comes as semiconductor companies worldwide are adapting to surging demand for AI infrastructure and as policymakers press for resilient local supply chains. Increasing production capacity in Singapore bolsters the regional ecosystem, which includes research institutions and a growing cluster of specialized suppliers. For Singapore, the strengthened investment in silicon photonics could reinforce its role as a manufacturing and innovation hub in Southeast Asia.

The deal is likely to attract scrutiny on commercial and regulatory fronts as governments balance industrial policy, national security concerns and the economic benefits of advanced microelectronics investment. For customers and suppliers, the acquisition may offer more predictable access to silicon photonics technologies, but questions remain about integration timelines and how quickly new capacity will come online.

GlobalFoundries trades on Nasdaq under the ticker GFS. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in the initial announcement. As demand for AI ready hardware continues to expand, the integration of Advanced Micro Foundry into GlobalFoundries signals a notable consolidation of capability around silicon photonics that could influence both product road maps and supply chain strategies across the sector.