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What we took home from NVIDIA GTC Berlin

Robots, co-packaged optics and packed halls. Our team on three days at GTC Berlin.

October 22, 2026

GTC Berlin was busy from the first morning to the last. Three of us made the trip: Søren Sørensen, our chief growth officer, Daniel Tidselbak, our chief commercial officer, and James from marketing.

We didn't have a stand this time. We went to listen, walk the floor and meet as many customers and partners as we could. The halls were packed and the meetings ran back to back.

What we saw

Europe was front and centre. Jensen Huang's keynote spoke about European companies, sovereign AI and AI factories, along with ready-to-go systems and AI moving onto laptops, desktops and workstations. The floor matched it. There were distributors, integrators, neoclouds and a lot of very young startups.

Robots were everywhere. One prototype was built to install optical transceivers and cables in the field, because there aren't enough people to do the job. AI was turning up in audio and special effects too.

The speed of building stood out. NVIDIA showed a server that now goes together in under five minutes, down from about two hours. No cables, fully liquid cooled, and designed to be built and deployed fast.

For us, the network was the part that mattered most. Co-packaged optics is now in volume production on the Spectrum-X switch. It's a real step forward. But the whole industry is also chasing hardware that's faster to build and easier to service. Those two things pull in different directions.

Our view is simple. Pluggables, near-packaged and co-packaged optics will all have a place. Customers need the flexibility to choose the right one for each deployment. They also need a supplier who keeps pace as lane speeds move from 100G to 200G and beyond.

What does it mean for serviceability when the optical engine sits inside the switch package instead of in a module you can swap?"

Daniel Tidselbak, chief commercial officer

In conversation with Søren and Daniel

We asked them both five questions on the way home.

Who were you talking to, and what was on their minds?

Daniel: People right across the AI space. Two things stood out. The building keeps going, and the systems already out there keep running in all sorts of forms. And cost and time. Both are areas where we're relevant.

Søren: Things continue to move very fast. AI is going into every corner of our lives, from manufacturing to the rest of society. That pushes the need for even more GPUs and even more connectivity.

What stood out on the exhibition floor?

Daniel: Robots. Robots everywhere! I saw a prototype of a robot designed to install optical transceivers and cables in the field. It's there to solve the lack of manpower for those jobs.

Søren: The little robot duck Jensen took on stage. It's a small gadget and it's quite funny, but I think it's a major step. It makes AI playable and real for a lot of people. You train it, and it carries it out right in front of you.

It might be a small gadget, but it's a major step towards making AI real for many people.

Søren Sørensen, chief growth officer

Where's the biggest gap between what AI infrastructure needs and what the market can deliver?

Daniel: Damn good question. Power was a concern for some.

Søren: Yes, it's getting more efficient. But it's not getting as efficient as the need for more gear and more data centers. At the TD SYNNEX opening event we heard that Europe's data center capacity is set to grow several times over by 2030. It's mind-blowing. There's a control question too. One technologist I spoke to tests some of the most advanced robots around, and they still take the batteries out at night. People aren't comfortable with a robot running when no one is watching.

1.6T is the headline now. What does 3.2T really mean for the people building these networks?

Daniel: We're yet to see a reference architecture. The key is 200G-lane optics, so going from 100G lanes to 200G lanes is the big step. No doubt we'll see 400G lanes faster than we think. Right now, though, CPO is being pushed as the next frontier. And while the focus is on NVIDIA, AMD is starting to hit the market. That could change approaches and architectures for customers.

Søren: We saw the first CPO. It might be a thing, but most likely a limited one in a small ecosystem, because you lose flexibility. For the transceiver industry there'll be a big surge in the coming years, even at lower data rates. When everyone has an AI laptop, you need faster connections everywhere.

How did ATOP land with people this week?

Søren: We now have a brand that's well known among the neoclouds, and it's growing fast with the partners who work with high-speed and AI customers. They know us. They like to speak to us. We like to speak to them. That only comes with hard work. Being present, taking the meetings, taking the long days,

They know us. They like to speak to us. We like to speak to them."

Søren Sørensen, chief growth officer

Onto the next one

Three busy days, a lot of good conversations and plenty to think about. If we didn't get to meet you in Berlin, get in touch. We'd be glad to pick up the conversation.

When and where was NVIDIA GTC Berlin 2026?

NVIDIA GTC Berlin 2026 ran from 20 to 22 October 2026 at STATION-Berlin in Germany. Jensen Huang gave the keynote on 21 October at the Tempodrom. It was NVIDIA's main AI conference for Europe in 2026, covering AI infrastructure, AI factories, sovereign AI, robotics and physical AI.

What is co-packaged optics (CPO)?

Co-packaged optics puts the optical engine in the same package as the switch chip, instead of in a separate pluggable transceiver. The shorter electrical path between the chip and the optics cuts power and supports higher bandwidth density. The trade-off is serviceability, because the optics can't be swapped out on their own the way a pluggable module can.

Will co-packaged optics replace pluggable transceivers?

Not in the near term. Pluggable, near-packaged and co-packaged optics are expected to work alongside each other, each suited to different deployments. Pluggables keep the flexibility to mix suppliers, change reach and replace a single failed link without touching the switch.

What does 200G per lane mean in optical transceivers?

It's the data rate carried on each electrical and optical lane inside a transceiver. An 800G module typically uses eight lanes at 100G, while a 1.6T module uses eight lanes at 200G. The move from 100G to 200G lanes is what makes 1.6T possible, and it sets the foundation for 3.2T.

When will 3.2T optical transceivers be available?

3.2T is still on the industry roadmap, and there is no settled reference architecture yet. It's likely to build on 200G lanes first, with 400G lanes expected to follow. Today, 1.6T is the leading edge for AI networks.

Why is power a bottleneck for AI data centers?

AI clusters are growing faster than the power available to run them. Hardware is getting more efficient, but demand for GPUs, networking and new data centers is rising faster still. That's why watts per bit now matters as much as speed when choosing optics.

Who is ATOP?

ATOP is a vertically integrated manufacturer of optical transceivers and cable assemblies from 1G to 1.6T, headquartered in Singapore. It manufactures in China, with additional contract manufacturing capacity in Malaysia, and has fulfilment hubs in Denmark, the US and Singapore. ATOP supplies AI infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, neocloud operators and European telecoms.
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