Celestial AI Announces Appointment of Semiconductor Industry Icon Lip-Bu Tan to Board of Directors

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-- January 30, 2025 -- Celestial AI™, creator of the Photonic Fabric™ optical interconnect technology platform, today announced the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to the Board of Directors. Tan is one of the most respected and influential leaders in the semiconductor industry, bringing decades of unparalleled experience.

With more than 40 years of deep-tech expertise as well as extensive board experience, Lip-Bu Tan is a visionary entrepreneur and seasoned venture capitalist with an exceptional track record of identifying and scaling transformative technologies. As the founder and chairman of Walden International, a global venture capital firm, as well as a founding managing partner of Celesta Capital and Walden Catalyst Ventures, Tan has been at the forefront of innovation, driving advancements across semiconductor design, electronic design automation and AI-driven solutions.

Tan currently serves on the boards of leading companies, including Schneider Electric SE and Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. He also serves on the board of trustees and School of Engineering Dean's Council at Carnegie Mellon University and the School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council at MIT, UC Berkeley School of Engineering and School of Computing, Data Science and Society Advisory Boards. Tan previously served as a director of Intel Corporation, Softbank Group and Hewlett Packard Enterprises. He was also the former CEO and Executive Chairman of Cadence Design Systems from 2009 - 2023.

“We are honored to welcome Lip-Bu Tan to our Board of Directors,” commented Dave Lazovsky, CEO of Celestial AI. “With his exceptional track record in scaling technology companies and deep knowledge of the semiconductor and AI ecosystems, Lip-Bu’s insights will be instrumental as we drive the growth of our Photonic Fabric™ platform and revolutionize next-generation data center infrastructure for Accelerated Computing.”

As a globally recognized leader, Tan holds numerous accolades for his contributions to technology and entrepreneurship, including the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award as well as the Semiconductor Industry Association's highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award. Tan’s insights and guidance as a director will be invaluable as Celestial AI continues to accelerate innovation and deliver industry-first solutions.

“The transformative potential of Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric for AI computing, networking and memory solutions stands to be as significant as the impact OpenAI’s GPT has had on AI models,” said Lip-Bu Tan. “The Photonic Fabric technology platform introduces a revolutionary suite of architectural tools for optical interconnectivity that extend from AI accelerator and GPU packages to hyperscale AI clusters. I look forward to collaborating with the team to as they continue to positively disrupt the industry.”