I find it highly unlikely that both IBM and Intel have just recently got to the point that they are describing silicon photonics with aggressive confidence without there being some sort of connection.
Up until now, the whole industry has treated the organic/polymer modulator as something that they would like to do (still research phase). What I am seeing in these recent videos is a change in attitude. Now they (IBM, Intel)are saying, we know how to do this and this is what we are going to do with it.
In my mind, that can't be a coincidence. Either they are the LSS that Tom has been referring to or there are others out there getting the kinds of results that Lightwave has been publishing. If they are out there, I would be surprised because I can't find the technical papers that support that possibility.
The other possibility is that one or both of them are bluffing. I doubt that.