Who makes copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables for AI data centers
High-speed copper cable assemblies — DAC, ACC, and AEC types — that link GPUs, NICs, and switches over short distances as a lower-cost alternative to optical transceivers.
Copper cabling connects the same points the optical transceivers of 3.04 do — GPUs to NICs, NICs to switches — but over shorter reaches, where it stays cheaper and lower-power than going optical. DAC is passive, ACC and AEC add active signal conditioning to extend reach, with AEC in particular depending on retimers (3.09a) to hit longer distances at high speed. Copper remains the default choice for the shortest, highest-bandwidth links in a rack, which keeps demand growing alongside optics rather than being displaced by it, even as the NVLink copper spine described in 3.10 approaches its practical reach limit at the highest speed grades. An investor should watch the mix between passive DAC and active ACC/AEC cabling as speeds rise, since active cables carry more semiconductor content (the retimers) and shift value toward cable assembly makers with in-house or partnered active-cable capability.
AI delta: AI racks pack far more high-speed copper links per GPU than general-purpose servers, and rising per-link speeds push volume from passive DAC toward active ACC and AEC assemblies.
Companies on this part (9)
| Company | Role | Ownership | Ticker | Price | 1d | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amphenol | manufacturer | public | APH | 74.09 USD | +1.4% | inferred | |
| Bizlink | manufacturer | public | 3665.TW | 1875 TWD | -4.3% | inferred | |
| Credo | manufacturer | public | CRDO | 147 USD | -9.1% | disclosed | AECs · source |
| Foxconn Interconnect | manufacturer | public | 6088.HK | 3.71 HKD | -0.1% | inferred | FIT |
| Luxshare | manufacturer | public | 002475.SZ | 50.42 CNY | +7.0% | inferred | |
| TE Connectivity | manufacturer | public | TEL | 208 USD | -0.2% | inferred | |
| Volex | manufacturer | public | VLX.L | 536 GBp | +1.6% | inferred | |
| Leoni | manufacturer | private | inferred | ||||
| Molex | manufacturer | private | inferred |
Retimers inside AECs 3.09a
Who competes here
The same table read the other way: every company above competes for copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables sockets. Confidence tags matter — an inferred placement is a lead, not a confirmed rivalry.
Seen in real machines
copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables is named in 3 of the rack teardowns and supercomputer breakdowns on this site. Each line below is a piece of that machine. The companies shown are the ones named on that line, not necessarily the maker of this part.
- Nvidia GB300 NVL72 · rack teardown
- DAC / ACC / AEC cables — Amphenol, TE Connectivity, Bizlink, Luxshare, Credo
- Aurora · supercomputer
- Slingshot-11 dragonfly fabric and cabling (175 groups, one group per compute cabinet, electrical inside compute cabinets) — HPE
- Fugaku · supercomputer
- Tofu Interconnect D (on-die network controller and router, 6D mesh/torus, 6 network interfaces at 6.8 GB/s each, about 216,864 cables) — Fujitsu
Nearby parts
- Children: Retimers inside AECs
- Previous in layer: Silicon photonics & co-packaged optics
- Next in layer: NVLink copper spine / backplane cartridges
- Layer: Layer 3 — Networking & interconnect
From the blog
Latest feed
- Touch Taiwan 2027 expands tech scope with advanced packaging and SiPh shows — DigiTimes, 2026-10-15The Touch Taiwan 2027 event is expanding its scope to include dedicated exhibitions for advanced packaging and silicon photonics technology to address AI and high-performance computing demands.
- Sponsored: What really breaks at 128K: Approaching fiber architectures at scale — Data Center Dynamics, 2026-10-15The article discusses the engineering challenges and systemic requirements of building high-density fiber architectures for large-scale AI infrastructure.
- Quantum firm Xanadu partners with GlobalFoundries for photonic component development — Data Center Dynamics, 2026-10-07Quantum computing company Xanadu has partnered with GlobalFoundries to develop photonic components, likely leveraging advanced foundry capabilities for silicon photonics.
- CScale Exits Stealth with $145M to Build the Interconnect for Gigawatt-Scale AI — HPCwire, 2026-09-30CScale has raised $145 million in funding to develop high-density interconnect infrastructure specifically designed for gigawatt-scale AI data centers.
- Lightmatter Joins Open CPX MSA, Introduces Bidirectional CPX Optical Engine — HPCwire, 2026-09-18Lightmatter joined the Open CPX MSA and launched the Passage L20 CPX module, an Open CPX module designed to reduce optical cabling in AI scale-up networks by combining transmit and receive on a single fiber.
- FIT ramps up optical interconnect push as AI race shifts to connectivity — DigiTimes, 2026-09-17FIT chairman Sidney Lu stated that the focus of AI advancement is shifting from computing power to improving connectivity and data flow efficiency within and across data centers.
- AI server exports to US slow; electronics parts jump 1.5 times in August — DigiTimes, 2026-09-13Taiwan reported that electronic parts exports reached a record high of $32.22 billion in August 2026, with integrated circuits and printed circuit boards seeing significant growth.
- Data Movement’s Where the Value Is, Says Former Cray CEO Ungaro — HPCwire, 2026-09-08Former Cray CEO Peter Ungaro stated that the primary value in the current market lies in data movement, not just raw compute capacity.
- JPC Connectivity sees AI demand driving orders into 2027 as margins benefit from longer lead times — DigiTimes, 2026-09-02JPC Connectivity reported that AI demand continues to boost orders for its optical communications, high-speed transmission, and power products, extending visibility into 2027 and 2028.
- The Link Budget Is Decided at the Connector — EE Times, 2026-09-01The article discusses how the physical connector and its specific electrical characteristics determine the link budget and signal integrity for high-speed data center networking.
Questions about copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables
- What are copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables?
- High-speed copper cable assemblies — DAC, ACC, and AEC types — that link GPUs, NICs, and switches over short distances as a lower-cost alternative to optical transceivers.
- Which companies make copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables for AI data centers?
- This catalog lists 9 companies on Copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables, 7 of them with listed equity: Amphenol, Bizlink, Credo, Foxconn Interconnect, Luxshare, TE Connectivity, Volex, Leoni, Molex.
- How does AI change demand for copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables?
- AI racks pack far more high-speed copper links per GPU than general-purpose servers, and rising per-link speeds push volume from passive DAC toward active ACC and AEC assemblies.
- How reliable are these copper: DAC / ACC / AEC cables supplier placements?
- The 9 placements on this part break down as 1 disclosed, 8 inferred. "disclosed" means the company or a filing says so; "reported" comes from trade press or a reference-design list; "inferred" is a taxonomy lead with no citation yet.
Sources: placements without a source URL come from the taxonomy seed and are tagged accordingly. How this data is built.· Markdown · JSON