AMS-Osram, an Austrian semiconductor manufacturer of light and sensor solutions, poached a networking director from Nvidia.

Ashkan Seyedi had served as Nvidia’s lead for technical product marketing on its co-packaged and pluggable interconnect solutions since 2021. In a LinkedIn post, Sayedi revealed he’s taking on the role of VP and GM of AMS-Osram’s optical interconnect business line.

The firm, whose headquarters is located on the grounds of an old Austrian castle in Premstätten and just a short drive from the city of Graz, is looking to push into the data center space. Its core microLEDs and vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technologies are set to power photonic optical connections for AI data centers.

AMS-Osram is initially targeting its photonic tech for short-distance connections between server racks, with it having already secured an agreement with an unnamed “leading AI data center infrastructure partner.”

Seyedi said it was “an exciting time” for the photonics manufacturer as it pushes into the AI data center space, stating: “Together, we’ll continue building on the company’s strong digital photonics strategy, bringing cutting-edge micro-emitter solutions to life for the rapidly evolving AI datacom market.”

AMS-Osram is Europe’s only volume manufacturer of microLEDs. Where Leyard Europe is the continent’s leading consumer display microLED maker, AMS-Osram largely focuses on automotive lighting.

Its push into the data center space has seen it de-prioritize other segments, notably through the sale of its non‑optical analog and mixed-signal sensor business to Infineon in a deal worth $652 million.

MicroLEDs have become increasingly seen as an attractive alternative technology to power data center interconnects. Traditional copper links have a limited reach of around two meters, while optical links such as fiber optics can reach longer distances, but at the expense of high power consumption and lower reliability.

Microsoft is among those exploring potential microLED links, with its Mosaic prototype interconnect system capable of maintaining high network speeds with further reach while using far less power.

Those efforts were initially detailed in a paper published last September, but have since matured via a collaboration with Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company MediaTek. The pair plans to launch microLED-based data center networking interconnects for partners by late 2027.

AMS-Osram’s efforts, meanwhile, will see work toward developing microLED optical interconnects for inside the rack as well as chip-to-chip communication between graphic processing units (GPUs) and high-bandwidth memory, CEO Aldo Kamper told investors during its Q1 2026 earnings call back in May.

“I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and contributing to the exciting journey ahead,” Seyedi said. “Together we'll define and create the next front of optical interconnect solutions. More to come.”

Prior to joining Nvidia, Sayedi was a senior research scientist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), where he worked on a commercial process design kit (PDK) for silicon photonics.