GlobalFoundries acquires Advanced Micro Foundry to become largest pure-play silicon phonics foundry

Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) Singapore is the world's first specialty Silicon Photonics foundry offering a full spectrum of manufacturing, prototyping, and testing services, all supported by proprietary technology platforms.

GlobalFoundries is acquiring Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), a silicon photonics foundry based in Singapore. The acquisition marks a pivotal step in Global Foundries’ (GF) strategy to advance innovation and its leadership in silicon photonics.

In a media release, GF stated the acquisition will expand its silicon photonics technology portfolio, production capacity and research and development in Singapore, complementing its existing technology capabilities in the U.S. and unlocking new market opportunities with a broader set of datacenter and communication technologies.

The acquisition also comes at an interesting time, given the increasing concern on the impact of supply chains, tariffs, and geopolitics in the semiconductor industry. As GF continues to expand its U.S. manufacturing capacity for silicon photonics in New York, this acquisition accelerates the ramp of its Singapore operation, enhancing supply chain resilience and enabling customers to source secure, differentiated solutions from multiple geographies.

GF also pointed out that the acquisition will accelerate their silicon photonics trajectory. Specifically, AMF is expected to contribute more than US$75 million to revenue with nearly a billion expected annual silicon photonics revenue by the end of the decade.

Taking a deeper look at the acquisition, it will bring together AMF’s manufacturing assets, extensive intellectual property and skilled talent to significantly expand GF’s silicon photonics technology and establish the company as the largest silicon photonics pure-play foundry by revenue. Leveraging over 15 years of AMF’s manufacturing expertise, GF will address demands in long-haul optical communications, computing, LiDAR and sensing on AMF’s 200mm platform in Singapore with plans to scale to 300mm as market needs grow, ensuring reliable global supply for AI datacenters, communications, and next-generation applications.

As traditional copper connections reach their physical limits, silicon photonics has emerged as a breakthrough technology that uses light to transfer data between and within data centers, delivering ultra-fast, energy-efficient performance.

According to Tim Breen, CEO of GF, silicon photonics technology is essential for AI infrastructure. Estimates show the silicon photonics wafer SAM to have 800% growth from 2026 to 2032, reaching over US$6.5 billion.

“As data moves faster and workloads grow more complex, the ability to move information with greater speed, precision and power efficiency is now fundamental to AI datacenters and advanced telecom networks," said Breen.

Breen added that acquiring AMF enables GF to deliver an expanded, and differentiated, decade-long roadmap for pluggable transceivers and co-packaged optics, while accelerating growth of photonics into adjacent markets such as automotive and quantum computing.

In line with the acquisition, GF plans to establish a Silicon Photonics research and development center of excellence (CoE) in Singapore. This CoE will partner with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore’s lead public sector R&D agency, to advance GF’s innovation roadmap by focusing on next-generation materials for ultra-fast data transfer at 400Gbps speed. This collaboration will enhance the company's silicon photonics platform to provide high-performance, secure data transfer solutions to our customers worldwide.

"AMF and GF share a vision of innovation and close customer partnerships to deliver differentiated solutions,” said Jagadish CV, CEO of AMF.

“With complementary technology portfolios, we are proud to join forces with a trusted manufacturer with global reach, and together, look forward to advancing silicon photonics technology for a broader range of markets and customers.”