Lightelligence

Lightelligence (曦智科技) is a photonic computing and AI semiconductor company founded in 2017 by MIT physics PhD Yichen Shen (沈亦晨), built on research from his doctoral thesis . The company develops photonic circuits designed to replace traditional electronic circuits for AI computation, aiming to increase processing power while reducing energy consumption . It is based on the Google TPU architecture and uses MIT's MZI technology path, with operations in both Boston and Shanghai .

The company has evolved from its initial focus on photonic AI chips to broader photonic interconnect and communications. In 2021, it released PACE, a prototype chip containing roughly 12,000 photonic devices alongside a microelectronic control chip, which demonstrated specific Ising model computations faster than an Nvidia RTX 3080 . By the time of its April 2026 Hong Kong Stock Exchange IPO, Lightelligence had amassed 410 patents and 44 commercial customers, positioned as the global leader in photonic computing chip shipments .

Early investors included ZhenFund (seed round), 5Y Capital (angel round), and FreeS Fund (Series A in 2017 and A+ in 2020), with FreeS Fund supporting the company for nearly a decade through its public listing . Shen was named to MIT Technology Review's "Innovators Under 35" China list in 2017 and Fortune China's "40 Under 40" business elites .