650Group

650 Group is a market intelligence research company with analysts focusing on data centers, AI, cloud, and mobile networks.

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

The next bottleneck in AI infrastructure won't necessarily be compute. It could be the network connecting it.

@AnthropicAI's planned IPO highlights just how quickly infrastructure investment is accelerating, with hundreds of billions of dollars already committed across multiple clouds and silicon platforms.

The opportunity for networking suppliers is enormous. But delivering the bandwidth, latency and efficiency required to keep those investments productive will be critical.

At @650Group, we see networking capturing an increasing share of AI CAPEX as deployments scale.

I explore what Anthropic's infrastructure commitments mean for Ethernet, optics and the next wave of networking investment in my latest analysis.

https://t.co/sYKINUL0Tt

#AINetworking #AIInfrastructure #OpticalNetworking #650Group

[650Group @650Group]

@Fortinet moves AI inspection into the Firewall

The company last week introduced the #FortiGuard Inline AI Security Service, which integrates artificial intelligence inspection and guardrails directly into existing FortiGate firewalls.

We blog about it here!
https://t.co/1DGTMI7982

[Chris DePuy | 650 Group @cdepuy]

Here's what we're seeing in enterprise wireless: assurance goes resident.
Thousand Eyes agents land in Wi-Fi 7/6E APs in December; RADIUS, DHCP and DNS validation rides in the base subscription. That changes the buying decision.
@Cisco @650group
https://t.co/hUT3lxgJv2
#AI

[Chris DePuy | 650 Group @cdepuy]

Akamai's inference and agent sandbox just hit beta on 4,350+ edge locations.
Our AI infrastructure research: serving models close to users and protecting them is a position hyperscalers don't hold. @Akamai @650group
https://t.co/Yeh8CiKTh2
#AI #EdgeInference

[650Group @650Group]

@Cloudflare's expanded open-source workspace helps IT admins tame AI agents, tokens and unchecked shadow IT by offering true, network-level IT governance. Partners with @asana @Box and @NotionHQ

650 Group's @cdepuy weighs in:
https://t.co/ug4REkgzKC

[NVIDIA AI Infrastructure @NVIDIAAIInfra]

Keeping an AI factory running at full yield starts with clear operational insight.

Our SVP of Networking, Gilad Shainer, joins @AlanWeckel, Co-founder of @650Group, and Jason Forrester, VP AI Cloud at @IREN_Ltd, to unpack how NVIDIA Minerva cuts alert noise, speeds root-cause analysis, and maximizes GPU uptime in production.

Watch the full discussion: https://t.co/bQN8Xrb7Se

[650Group @650Group]

"Bring as much data as you can!" -Let's talk AI Infrastructure at Scale. New #webinar featuring leaders from @nvidia , #IREN and 650 Group Discussing the Future of #AI.

Full video:
https://t.co/ZIrvbjwK43

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

The AI infrastructure market is entering a new phase as investments in compute drive significant changes in networking architectures, data center design and infrastructure requirements. The scale of these deployments is creating new market opportunities and challenging traditional approaches to building and operating data centers.

I recently hosted a discussion with Gilad Shainer, @nvidia and Jason Forrester, IREN to examine where the market is heading, the demands of building AI infrastructure at scale and the opportunities emerging as investment continues to accelerate.

As AI deployments grow in scale and complexity, the decisions being made today will have significant implications for the infrastructure market over the next several years.

Here's a preview of our conversation: https://t.co/6suZIbNA0t

#650Group #NVIDIA #IREN #AIInfrastructure

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

The deep observability market grew 22% YoY in 1H 2026, with a projected 28% CAGR through 2030.

Hybrid AI is driving demand for greater network visibility, security and performance.

More on our latest @650Group research in my blog for @Gigamon: https://t.co/sUqcAT6aMO

[650Group @650Group]

Alan Weckel, founding analyst, 650 Group, had a really exciting week; first at #OCP26 and next, at Semtech's analyst day, so much happening in the infrastructure hot bed.

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

AI is changing the economics of connectivity, and the industry is only beginning to address what comes next.

Great to participate in @SemtechCorp's Analyst Day and join the “AI Connectivity Imperative” panel alongside Mark Edelstone, David Ramku, Alexis Black Björlin and Dr. Hong Hou.

From my perspective, networking and connectivity are becoming defining factors in how AI infrastructure scales. The discussion brought together some valuable perspectives on where the market is headed and what it will take to get there.

Thanks to the Semtech team for including me and to Hong for sharing his executive perspective on the road ahead.

#AI #Networking #Connectivity #650Group

[Chris DePuy | 650 Group @cdepuy]

At OCP, Broadcom highlighted its progress with CPO, SUE-T and ESUN
@Broadcom
#OCPGlobalSummit2026
@opencomputeprj
@650group

[650Group @650Group]

@ChuckRobbins @Cisco @nvidia Great to see continued product #momentum and #innovation from @Cisco in the AI networking era.

[650Group @650Group]

@Broadcom goes big at #OCP26
Key announcement with future products powering the #AI data center: #Tomahawk6 #TomahawkUltra switches, #Jericho4, and #Thor #NICs, integrated into modern rack architectures.
Works with @OpenAI @AristaNetworks @nokia and more! Blog Link:
https://t.co/bvyirrQZTt

[Chris DePuy | 650 Group @cdepuy]

CPO ships in 2026 according to Ian Buck of @nvidia

#OCPGlobalSummit2026
@OpenComputePrj
@650Group

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

AI networking is scaling rapidly, but the manufacturing supply chain for optical interconnects is not keeping pace. In my latest @650Group blog, I look at one of the less-discussed constraints on AI infrastructure growth: indium phosphide (InP) and the industry's ability to manufacture optical components at the volumes AI factories will require.

AI networking is on a path to exceed $300B this decade and approach $1T early next decade. But getting there will require more than faster switches, new architectures and open standards.

We need to rethink how optical components are manufactured, moving from telecom-era production models to semiconductor-scale manufacturing capable of supporting billions of lasers.

The industry made major investments in advanced packaging and HBM to keep pace with GPU demand. Networking needs a similar shift.

I explore why heterogeneous integration of silicon photonics and III-V materials will be critical to scaling AI infrastructure, and why manufacturing must advance alongside networking innovation.

Read the full blog: https://t.co/LKW8vYpRtm

#AIInfrastructure #AINetworking #OpticalNetworking #SiliconPhotonics #650Group

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

Heading into #OCPGlobalSummit, open networking and SONiC will be a big part of the AI infrastructure conversation.

I shared my perspective in @Cisco's blog on where scale-across is heading and why we expect this market to exceed $50B by the end of the decade.

Worth a read: https://t.co/gEN3Ly1xE1

#SONiC #AINetworking #650Group

[650Group @650Group]

@Rakuten_Mobile surpasses 11m subscribers, yet another proof point for #OpenRAN growth; leverages an open, virtualized, cloud-native radio and core.

Read the blog!
https://t.co/ooQRR1yeNk

[Chris DePuy | 650 Group @cdepuy]

Rami Rahim, President and GM of HPE Networking gave an update on HPE’s Juniper acquisition and @HPE_Networking more generally. @ramirahim
@650Group
-It took 6 months to combine sales organizations. Ahead of plans

-Accelerating cost synergies target to $800M per year

-Nov 1, 2026 it plans ti introduce its unified partner (sales) program

-Nov 2026 - Phase 1 integrated ordering and quoting (HPE+Juniper), and by the end ‘27 supply chain combined.

-Expects to increase its networking services attach higher by 5 percentage points (at 1/3rd now)

Expects its networking business to benefit from sales of AMD Helios. It says it

[650Group @650Group]

@AvizNews Terrific panel on how AI is impacting networks!

[Aviz News @AvizNews]

Gilad Shainer, NVIDIA, joined Alan Weckel 650 Group and Vishal Shukla, Aviz, to discuss the role of the NVIDIA–Aviz partnership in helping customers turn AI infrastructure into an efficiently operated, revenue-producing AI factory.

Watch Now: https://t.co/V4CuW39EU2

[Alan Weckel @AlanWeckel]

I’m looking forward to moderating @HPE's “Reimagining SONiC to Power AI at Scale” webinar and digging into how SONiC is evolving to support the next generation of AI infrastructure.

As AI clusters grow, the network has to scale in multiple directions at once — scale-up, scale-out and increasingly scale-across. That is creating new requirements around openness, automation, operational simplicity and flexibility.

I’ll be joined by Sridhar Katere, VP Engineering at HPE, and Marty Ma, Director of Product Management at HPE, for a discussion covering:

• Where SONiC adoption stands today
• Deployment and operational challenges
• SONiC across scale-up, scale-out and scale-across architectures
• Agentic AIOps for production networks
• Deployment and support models
• The role of the broader SONiC community

There’s a lot changing quickly as AI reshapes networking architectures. I’m looking forward to a practical discussion about where SONiC fits and what operators need to think about as these networks move to production.

Register here: https://t.co/xOL9SfKjKn

#SONiC #AIInfrastructure #Networking #AIOps #DataCenter #HPE