Arista Networks has joined the growing cohort of vendors offering 1.6 Tbps (1.6T) networking switches, targeting AI-centric network architectures.

The 7060XE7 portfolio of rack-scale switches supports both Arista’s Extensible Operating System (EOS) and open operating systems. Designed atop Broadcom’s Tomahawk 6 switch silicon, Arista positions them as viable for powering high-density compute.

Arista’s 1.6T platform consists of a trio of switches. The air-cooled 7060XE7-64PS is the first of three to be made available, with it set to drop during the fourth quarter. It features 64 1.6T-capable ports in a four rack-unit (4RU) design.

The latter pair are set to launch in early 2027, comprising the 7060XE7-64PRS, which comes in either air or liquid-cooled variants, both of which house 64 1.6T ports, and the 7060XE7-128PE, another air-cooled switch, though this iteration houses 128 800 Gbps (800G) ports. Arista views the 800G variant as suitable for environments requiring “deployment flexibility and backward compatibility.”

For its entry into the burgeoning 1.6T switch space, Arista has packed the 7060XE7 series with what it describes as “Smart AI” software to boost AI performance, including dynamic and cluster load balancing options to optimize traffic distribution, multipath reliable connection (MRC) support to ensure link flaps don’t stall massive workloads, and congestion management additions to allow users to gain granular visibility into network health.

"The AI era requires a shift in how we think about the network – it is no longer a standalone layer of infrastructure, but a tightly integrated component of the AI supersystem," Tyson Lamoreaux, Arista’s SVP for cloud and AI networking, explained. "With the 7060XE7 Series, we are delivering massive-scale 1.6T systems that combine world-class reliability and the differentiation of EOS with liquid cooling and low-power optics to help our customers build AI fabrics designed for maximum performance and power efficiency."

Arista said its 1.6T networking will be supported by work with none other than AMD on “next-generation compute silicon and NICs (network interface cards) for scale-out AI fabrics."

“As AI systems scale, the network is becoming a critical foundation for performance and efficiency,” Ravi Pendekanti, corporate VP for AMD’s data center solutions group, said. “By working with partners like Arista to advance the Ethernet networking ecosystem, we are helping enable flexible, high-performance AI fabrics built on open standards.”

Sample shipments of 1.6T lines from several rival vendors have already commenced, with Dell’Oro Group projecting a ramp-up to kickstart in the second half of 2026. Early examples share Arista’s support for Broadcom's Tomahawk 6, including offerings from Edgecore and Aria Networks, while Broadcom’s own Tomahawk Ultra debuted last summer. Nvidia’s upcoming co-packaged optics (CPO) switches, such as the recently teased Quantum-X Q3450-LD, are also built around 1.6T.