GoPro, the company that built its brand strapping cameras to skydivers and surfers, is now betting its future on a very different kind of hardware: optical transceivers for AI data centers.
The company signed a definitive merger agreement on September 1, 2026, with Starman Optical, a privately held optical-photonics company founded in 2024. Under the deal, Starman will acquire a 90% stake in GoPro for $285 million in cash, working out to roughly $1.14 per share after working-capital adjustments. Existing GoPro shareholders will retain about 10% of the merged entity, which will continue trading on Nasdaq.
From extreme sports to extreme computing
The market’s reaction was swift and enthusiastic. GoPro shares spiked more than 50% intraday following the announcement, trading at approximately $1.33.
Starman Optical manufactures optical transceivers designed specifically for AI data-center networking. It’s a market that has exploded alongside the buildout of GPU clusters powering large language models and other AI applications.
For GoPro, the merger thesis is that its intellectual property — more than 2,500 US patents, many in imaging, optics, and sensor technology — can be repurposed for markets including AI infrastructure, defense, government, robotics, and aerospace.
As part of the transaction, Starman will also assume responsibility for repaying GoPro’s existing debt of roughly $92 million. The merger is expected to close by the end of 2026, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.
A company running out of runway
GoPro’s financial trajectory has been pointing in the wrong direction for years. Quarterly revenue peaked above $600 million back in 2014, and the company’s most recent annual revenue sat around $652 million.
The situation got serious enough that GoPro’s auditors issued a “going concern” warning in June 2026. GoPro had been evaluating strategic alternatives prior to the Starman deal. Rising costs for memory chips, driven partly by AI-related demand cannibalizing supply, made the core camera business even harder to sustain profitably.
Why Starman, and why now
Starman Optical is a young company, established just two years ago. Its focus on optical transceivers for AI data centers puts it squarely in one of the hottest segments of the tech supply chain.
At $285 million for a 90% stake, the retained 10% for existing shareholders combined with the Nasdaq listing gives Starman public market access without going through a traditional IPO.