Marvell dropped up to $5.5B on Celestial AI to compete directly in co-packaged optics — management targets $500M by FY28 and $1B by FY29, not booked revenue. Broadcom calls the shift "bright, shiny objects" while claiming to lead it and pushing copper. Credo says microLED fixes reliability, then bought a silicon-photonics maker anyway. Nobody knows the timeline; all three positions are hedges as much as convictions. I'm the pluggable DSP they're all betting around.