Key facts
- NTT, SK Group, and Chunghwa Telecom have launched the $500 million IOWN AI Fund.
- The fund will invest in startups developing technologies for NTT's Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) framework.
- IOWN utilizes optical rather than electronic processing for data transport to reduce power consumption and latency.
- The fund aims to support AI data centers and applications requiring low latency, such as telesurgery and autonomous vehicles.
- IOWN's All-Photonics Network (APN) keeps data in the optical domain from core to terminal device.
NTT, in partnership with South Korea's SK Group and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, has launched a $500 million investment fund to accelerate the adoption of its Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) technology. The IOWN AI Fund, managed by the newly established Catalight Capital, will channel capital into early-stage and high-growth startups across North America, Asia, and Europe.
The fund's focus is on companies developing technologies critical to the IOWN framework, including photonics, AI semiconductors, next-generation software, distributed cloud systems, and AI applications in sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and finance. IOWN's core innovation lies in its All-Photonics Network (APN), which aims to transmit data entirely in the optical domain, thereby significantly reducing the power consumption and latency associated with current electronic data processing.
This initiative addresses the growing infrastructure challenges posed by the exponential growth of AI models and data traffic, which are straining existing power grids and network capabilities. By moving away from optical-to-electronic conversions at network nodes, IOWN promises to enable sub-millisecond response times crucial for demanding AI inference workloads and advanced applications like telesurgery and autonomous vehicle control.
The consortium's investment acknowledges the severe operational challenges facing the digital economy. The participation of entities like the Development Bank of Japan suggests an industrial policy approach, positioning IOWN as a key piece of future national infrastructure. NTT holds the architectural intellectual property for IOWN, with SK Group and Chunghwa Telecom bringing manufacturing capacity and carrier infrastructure to foster a potential regional standard.