As AI clusters scale to hundreds of thousands of GPUs, interconnect speed is becoming AI's critical bottleneck, not processor power. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on the No Priors podcast that one of the clearest choke points is interconnect technology. Traditional copper connections struggle with heat and signal quality, while fiber optics allows greater bandwidth with less power. Seven companies building AI's connectivity infrastructure include Credo Semiconductor, whose fiscal 2026 revenue reached approximately $1.3 billion; Astera Labs, whose first-quarter 2026 revenue climbed 93% year over year to $308 million; and Coherent, whose AI optical backlog extends well into 2028.