Theses›Datacentre & AI compute›RF waveguide interconnect

RF waveguide interconnect

RF-over-dielectric-waveguide is a funded third physical medium for AI scale-up interconnect, claiming the mid-range (roughly 1-10m) socket at 800G-plus lane rates with a purely electrical front-end.

  • Bear
  • Early
  • $23B by 2035

The callRF over plastic waveguide could fill the 1-10 metre gap in AI racks, but nobody has published a real link budget and both funded players are proprietary and American.

D1D2R1R2C1foragainst D1D2R1R2C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1Copper loses reach at 200G a lane and optics still costs too much at 1-10 metres, so AI racks scaling to hundreds of accelerators have a gap neither fills well.
  2. D2Sub-terahertz radio is made on standard CMOS and the dielectric cable bends and plugs like copper, so the front end stays cheap and the cable stays simple.
  3. R1The medium is unproven: no published bit-error rate, reach or power per bit at 800G a lane in a real rack, and the category has no revenue.
  4. R2Both funded players are proprietary point solutions and the European lane is empty, so even if the medium wins there is no open standard for other suppliers to sell into.
  5. C1Dielectric-waveguide cables qualify into a named AI rack platform above 500k units a year; before that, a hyperscaler qualification or an OIF, IEEE or UALink project.end-2028
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
Threatened by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
202720282029today1234predictionswatch 202720282029today1234predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1By end-2027 either a hyperscaler or major switch/accelerator vendor publicly qualifies an RF-over-dielectric-waveguide cable product, or a standards body (OIF/IEEE/UALink) opens a dielectric-waveguide project.Dec 2027 · open
  2. 2A demonstrated production link budget: BER, reach and power per bit at 800G.Dec 2027 · open
  3. 3By end-2028 RF-waveguide cables ship in volume (>100k units/yr class) in any named AI rack platform.Dec 2028 · open
  4. 4Waveguide cables ship above 100k units a year in a named AI rack platform.Dec 2028 · open
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
Private · 2 private companies, 2 of them in the US.

AttoTude · Point2 Technology

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$279M raised by 2 companies, $102M of it in the last three years. Wave under way: Large rounds in the last three years; the category is funded and getting crowded.

Backed by a top-tier venture firm: AttoTude. Backed by a strategic investor: Point2 Technology.

What changedthe record, newest first
  • 16 Jul 2026A third way to move data between AI chips (radio through a plastic waveguide) now has two funded companies and, more interestingly, NVIDIA and Keysight money hedging it. Media transitions in interconnect are rare; three-way contests are rarer.
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