Relativity Networks has raised $22 million as it develops hollow-core fiber technology designed to transmit data faster than conventional fiber and potentially expand where large AI data centers can be built.

The funding, announced Tuesday, was raised through SAFE notes from Rhapsody Venture Partners, Bell Ventures and Faster Than Glass, among others. The company also secured a $40 million follow-on order from an unnamed leading hyperscaler.

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Faster Fiber, Lower Latency

Relativity Networks uses hollow-core fiber, a technology that sends light through a hollow chamber rather than traditional glass fiber. The company says this can make data transmission around 30% faster.

According to CEO Jason Eisenholz, a signal takes roughly five microseconds to travel one kilometre through conventional fiber. Hollow-core fiber can reduce that to about 3.5 microseconds.

That difference becomes increasingly important as AI systems grow. Instead of keeping GPUs within a single data center, operators are increasingly spreading computing capacity across multiple buildings or campuses because of power and space constraints.

Extending The Reach Of AI Data Centers

Relativity believes its technology could help connect separate data centers and allow them to function as a single, synchronized system.

Reducing latency by 30% could effectively allow compute infrastructure to span greater distances before network delays become a major limitation.

“The first era of AI optimized for compute,” Eisenholz said. “The second era optimized the networking inside the data center. The third era that we see coming is optimizing the geography.”