"NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) chose five university-led teams to further study different applications of an emerging, potentially revolutionary technology called integrated photonics."

A good use of funds to research different applications imo. Things like that will be going on automatically within the public sector at such time as Poet has been exposed, so to speak. Methinks his wording was too measured in that use of the word "potentially". I see it as a will be revolutionary technology.