Action camera maker GoPro is buying into AI data centres through a $285 million merger with optical outfit Starman Optical.
According to Engadget, GoPro is the latest odd name to wander into the AI data centre market through a deal with optical photonics company Starman Optical.
GoPro shareholders, with the company staying publicly listed, will receive $285 million when the deal closes. They will retain about 10 per cent ownership, while GoPro’s outstanding debt of about $92 million will be paid off.
The merger still needs shareholder and regulatory approval, as well as the usual closing conditions. GoPro expects the deal to close by the end of 2026.
GoPro will continue to make its action cameras and run its subscription and cloud services. However, it wants to enter new markets under the combined company.
Starman’s optical transceivers are expected to sit under GoPro’s umbrella, “extending the Company’s reach into the large and rapidly growing market for AI infrastructure in optical transceivers,” according to a press release.
For those not in the know, Optical transceivers are plug-in modules that convert electrical signals into light, transmit them through fibre-optic cables, and then convert incoming light back into data. They sit in servers, network switches and storage kit, where copper becomes too hot, noisy or short-legged.
In AI datacentres, those links enable thousands of GPUs to exchange data without sitting idle. Faster optical networking can cut bottlenecks, power use and latency, which explains why photonics has become a useful corner of the AI infrastructure gold rush.
GoPro is planning a push into defence, government, robotics and aerospace. The move will be propped up by the combined company’s IP, optics and imaging capabilities. The outfit follows shoemaker Allbirds in making an unexpected turn into AI infrastructure. As Reuters noted, GoPro briefly reached a $4 billion valuation on its first day as a publicly traded company in 2014.
GoPro shares have had a rough few years, although the price rose on Monday after YouTuber and filmmaker Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Fischbach, emerged as GoPro’s largest individual shareholder by buying an 8.5 per cent stake.
