Winning an order of US$15 million, Kopin enters the field of MicroLED optical interconnection

Recently, the American microdisplay technology company Kopin announced that it has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the fabless semiconductor company Fabric.AI. The two parties will jointly develop optical interconnect solutions based on Micro LED technology to solve the data transmission problem between graphics processing units (GPUs) and high-performance processors in AI data centers.

As an important part of this cooperation, Fabric.AI has paid a purchase order of US$15 million (approximately 108.6 million yuan) to Kopin, specifically to support the research and development of the demonstration chipset. This innovative technology, named "Neural I/O", will use optical connections to replace traditional copper wire connections in the data center.

In terms of technical implementation, this solution makes use of Kopin's experience in the field of Micro LED display. Through its unique bidirectional NeuralDisplay architecture, programmable Micro LED pixels are redefined as optical transceivers for data transmission, achieving ultra-high-speed data transmission, and the power consumption per bit is much lower than existing transmission solutions.

The collaboration combines Kopin’s deep experience in Micro LED materials, process development and manufacturing with Fabric.AI’s capabilities in AI factory infrastructure development. According to the agreement between the two parties, Kopin will also own 19.9% of Fabric.AI equity and will become the exclusive manufacturer of Neural I/O chipsets.

Kopin stated that the cooperation between the two parties will create a faster and more efficient optical interface that can support large-scale data transmission needs in the AI field.

It is worth noting that Kopin’s Micro LED display business has continued to develop in recent years and has been deployed in many fields such as military, aviation and high-performance computing. Just in March this year, Kopin received a Phase I contract from the U.S. government for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR). The project aims to develop full-color, small-size Micro LED display technology for soldier wearable applications.

In the aerospace market, at the end of 2025, Kopin received a Micro LED display order worth approximately US$3 million (approximately 21.72 million yuan) from an aerospace company, marking the first official mass production application of Micro LED technology in the fighter field.

In terms of financing, in order to support R&D expenditures and production line expansion of microdisplay technology, Kopin successfully raised US$41 million (approximately 296.8 million yuan) through private equity financing in early 2025. These funds were clearly used to develop multiple new product lines including color Micro LED microdisplays.

Kopin’s technical strength has also been highly recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense allocated US$15.4 million (approximately 111.5 million yuan) to it to develop ultra-high-brightness, full-color Micro LED displays specifically designed for military augmented reality (AR) applications.

In August of the same year, partner Theon Company also announced that it would invest US$15 million (approximately 108.6 million yuan) in Kopin. The two parties established a joint venture to focus on the long-term development and production of Micro LED displays.

With the cooperation with Fabric.AI, Kopin is extending Micro LED technology from display applications to optical interconnection fields, realizing a gradual transformation from a single display technology supplier to a core participant in AI infrastructure.