Tower Semiconductor’s InP Platform Gains OpenLight’s Design Tools - Quantum Zeitgeist

On August 11, 2026, Tower Semiconductor, OpenLight, and Cadence announced a collaboration that integrates OpenLight's Process Design Kit (PDK) into Cadence's electronic design automation (EDA) tools, ... Read original →

This collaboration between Tower Semiconductor, OpenLight, and Cadence marks a pivotal step toward integrating photonic circuit design workflows. The fusion of the InP platform with OpenLight’s PDK within Cadence’s EDA tools streamlines PIC development, accelerating deployment in AI infrastructure and optical interconnects. Technologically, this move propels EUV adoption in photonics and solidifies EDA’s role in electro-optical co-design. From a geopolitical standpoint, it may prompt stricter export controls on design tools, affecting supply chains in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, China. Competitors like Intel, IBM, and Broadcom may respond with accelerated in-house photonics R&D to reduce reliance on third-party tools. Within the next 12–24 months, the photonics ecosystem will likely standardize design flows, mirroring IC industry maturity, with EDA integration becoming a core competitive advantage.