How Akhetonics is Building the World's First General Purpose Optical Processor

In our third podcast episode, we sitted down with Michael Kissner, Co-Founder of Akhetonics, to discuss how they are building the world's first all-optical digital general-purpose processor. Right here in Europe.

Here is why this matters for the future of high-performance computing:

• Moving Past the "Silicon Ceiling": Electronic processors have relied on parallelization since ~2006, but Amdahl's Law dictates diminishing returns. To enter the Terahertz domain, we have to look to light.
• The Power of Optical Digital Computing: Unlike noise-sensitive analog or quantum alternatives, Akhetonics utilizes a robust digital architecture. If the light is on, it computes, eliminating the accuracy errors that stall other photonic setups.
• Built for Safety-Critical Environments: Because optical signals move at a strict time-of-flight, the hardware is inherently deterministic. You know exactly how long an operation takes down to the picosecond, making it ideal for edge AI, avionics, and defense appliances.
• True European Tech Sovereignty: Their chips are designed, written, manufactured, and packaged entirely within Europe. By leveraging mature 180 nm nodes, they bypass multi-billion dollar lithography machines while radically lowering the water and power footprint of chip production.

Listen to our most recent episode in our Spotify