Q.ANT and IONOS Launch Pilot Program for Light-Based Computing Chips

At a glance

German chipmaker Q.ANT and cloud company IONOS have started a free pilot program that lets developers use photonic computing chips, which perform calculations using light. Developers can run their own AI models on real chips. The pilot begins in November 2026.

Key points

1. 1

   Developers will run AI models on real photonic processors (chips that compute with light) housed in IONOS data centers in Germany.

2. 2

   Performance will be tested on matrix multiplication (a basic calculation widely used in AI) and nonlinear functions (complex mathematical calculations).

3. 3

   Possible uses in industrial image processing, scientific simulation, time series forecasting (predicting values over time), and robotics will be explored.

Why it matters

As AI use grows, running costs and electricity consumption have become major concerns. The company says this chip could reduce energy use and operating costs.