Intel announces the development of a Hybrid Silicon Laser Chip that could make our data spin even faster.

Researchers from Intel Corporation and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have built the world’s first electrically powered Hybrid Silicon Laser using standard silicon manufacturing processes. This breakthrough allows producing low-cost, high-bandwidth silicon photonics devices for use inside and around computers and data centers. The researchers combined the light-emitting properties of Indium Phosphide with the light-routing capabilities of silicon into a single hybrid chip.
The Hybrid Silicon Laser Chip is still years away from commercialization.
More details in this Intel press-release and on the hybrid laser chip site.