When people talk about artificial intelligence, they usually talk about ChatGPT, self-driving cars, humanoid robots or the latest AI image generator.
But there’s a question that rarely gets asked:
What powers all of it?
Every AI model, no matter how advanced, runs on computer chips. Those chips perform billions—even trillions—of calculations every second. Without them, modern AI simply wouldn’t exist.
For decades, the world has relied on one material to build those chips: silicon.
Silicon has quietly powered the digital revolution. It made personal computers possible, fuelled the smartphone era and helped build the internet we use every day. But as AI grows more powerful, the technology that carried us this far is beginning to face its biggest challenge yet.
Instead of asking how to build better AI, some researchers are asking a far more fundamental question:
What if we need a completely different kind of computer?
One company trying to answer that question is LongServing Technology, a Taiwanese technology firm founded by Dr. Ko-Cheng Fang. Rather than relying on electricity to move information through computer chips, the company is exploring whether light could become the foundation of tomorrow’s computing.
It sounds like science fiction.
Yet it is an area attracting serious attention from researchers around the world.
Dr. Ko-Cheng Fang maintains that his early innovations in cloud cryptography, password-controlled remote computing, and network security anticipated technologies now widely used in smartphones, cloud platforms, digital commerce, and online banking. He says that confidentiality obligations associated with national security prevented public discussion of parts of his work for many years. Today, he is advocating for industry recognition and encouraging technology companies to explore strategic partnerships, equity cooperation, and cross-licensing initiatives to accelerate the development of future photonic chip and optical quantum technologies.
Why AI Needs a New Kind of Hardware
Artificial intelligence is growing at an incredible pace.
Every new model is larger than the one before it. Every breakthrough demands more computing power. Every new application—from healthcare and scientific research to filmmaking and engineering—depends on computers performing enormous numbers of calculations in a fraction of a second.
That comes at a cost.
Today’s AI systems require vast data centres packed with powerful processors. These facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity and generate enough heat that entire cooling systems are needed just to keep them operating safely.
Simply building more of the same chips may not be enough forever.
The future of AI isn’t just about writing better algorithms. It’s also about reinventing the hardware that makes those algorithms possible.
What If Computers Could Think with Light?
That’s where photonic computing comes in.
Traditional computer chips use electricity to move information. Photonic computing replaces those electrical signals with photons—the tiny particles that make up light.
Why does that matter?
Because light travels incredibly fast and produces far less heat than electricity.
Imagine trying to deliver thousands of packages across a busy city.
Now imagine replacing the traffic-clogged roads with high-speed express lanes.
That’s the promise of photonic computing: moving information more quickly and more efficiently.
If engineers can make it work at scale, future AI systems could become faster while using much less energy.
Solving One of the Biggest Challenges
Of course, using light inside a computer isn’t as simple as shining a torch through a circuit.
Light naturally travels in straight lines.
Computer chips, however, are anything but straight. They contain countless tiny pathways that twist, connect and change direction.
Teaching light to navigate those microscopic pathways has become one of the biggest engineering challenges in photonic computing.
LongServing Technology believes it has made progress with a new material called X-Photon.
According to the company, X-Photon allows light to make controlled 90-degree turns while remaining inside the chip. Think of it like building tiny mirrors into the material itself, helping guide light exactly where it needs to go.
If the technology proves successful, it could help engineers build far more advanced photonic processors than have previously been possible.
Building the Future, Not Just a Product
LongServing’s vision extends beyond a single invention.
The company is also developing photonic quantum chips, optical memory technologies and cloud infrastructure designed specifically for future AI systems. To support these efforts, it recently announced a US$500 million financing initiative based on a stated valuation of US$2.5 billion.
Those are ambitious goals.
Whether every milestone is achieved remains to be seen, but they reflect something much bigger than one company’s roadmap.
They reflect a growing belief across the technology industry that the future of AI may depend on breakthroughs in hardware as much as software.
Why This Matters to Your Generation
For students entering university today, artificial intelligence is often seen as a software revolution.
But the next wave of innovation may come from fields that receive far less attention.
Materials science.
Physics.
Electrical engineering.
Photonics.
Quantum computing.
The future won’t be built by programmers alone. It will also be shaped by scientists discovering new materials, engineers designing new architectures and entrepreneurs willing to challenge technologies the rest of the world takes for granted.
History shows that every major technological leap begins with someone asking a question others think is impossible.
What if aeroplanes could fly?
What if computers could fit into our pockets?
What if machines could understand language?
Today, another question is beginning to emerge.
What if the future of computing isn’t powered by electricity—but by light?
The answer is still unfolding.
But one thing is already clear: the next generation of breakthroughs won’t just come from teaching machines to think differently. They may come from reimagining what computers themselves are made of.
And for the students who will build that future, that possibility is perhaps the most exciting idea of all.
Contact Information
Dr. Ko-Cheng Fang
Founder, CEO & Chairman
LongServing Technology Co., Ltd.
Email: service@longserving.com.tw
Website: https://longserving.com.tw/en/
Instagram: @ko_cheng_fang