# Yichen Shen

> Yichen Shen is the founder and CEO of Lightelligence, an MIT spinout building computers that run on light instead of electricity. A physicist who earned his PhD at MIT in 2016, Shen co-authored a landmark 2017 Nature Photonics paper showing that deep-learning math could be done with interfering photons, then turned the idea into chips. His company has shipped photonic processors (PACE), the first optical network-on-chip (Hummingbird), and optical interconnects (Photowave), and in 2026 became the first AI photonic-computing company to go public.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Lightelligence
- **Organizations:** Lightelligence, MIT
- **From:** Hangzhou, China
- **Nationality:** Chinese
- **Education:** PhD, Physics (nanophotonics and artificial intelligence), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Undergraduate, Physics (reported), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Lightelligence, an MIT photonic-computing spinout., Co-authored the landmark 2017 Nature Photonics cover paper on deep learning with coherent nanophotonic circuits., Author of roughly 40 peer-reviewed papers, including first-authored work in Science and Nature Photonics, and holder of around 20 US patents.

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Earned PhD in Physics from MIT under Marin Soljacic and John Joannopoulos.
- **2017** — Co-authored 'Deep learning with coherent nanophotonic circuits,' a cover paper in Nature Photonics.
- **2017** — Founded Lightelligence with Marin Soljacic and fellow MIT alumni; named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35.
- **2019** — Lightelligence demonstrated a prototype optical AI chip.
- **2021** — Featured by MIT in 'Accelerating AI at the speed of light.'
- **2022** — Named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
- **2023** — Launched Hummingbird, described as the world's first optical network-on-chip; Photowave won Best in Show at Flash Memory Summit.
- **2025** — Launched LightSphere X GPU supernode interconnect; won Superior AI Leader Award at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.
- **2026** — Lightelligence listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, billed as the world's first AI photonic-computing stock.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Lightelligence, an MIT photonic-computing spinout.
- Co-authored the landmark 2017 Nature Photonics cover paper on deep learning with coherent nanophotonic circuits.
- Author of roughly 40 peer-reviewed papers, including first-authored work in Science and Nature Photonics, and holder of around 20 US patents.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 and MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35.
- World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2022).
- Brought photonic computing products to market: PACE/PACE2 processors, Photowave optical interconnects, Hummingbird optical network-on-chip, and LightSphere X.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Lightelligence listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, described in coverage as the world's first AI photonic-computing stock.
- **2025-09** — Company raised additional Series C funding as it scaled optical interconnect and computing products.

## Links

- Website: https://lightelligence.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yichen-shen-0786a129
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lightelligence
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEX2-rgqW9g

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yichen-shen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11