Absorption and luminescence spectra and optical amplification in bismuth-doped germanate silicate glasswere investigated. Two kinds of bismuth ion valence states could exist in the glass. One is Bi
2+, which hasshown red luminescence, another might be Bi
+, which is the active center for infrared luminescence. Theinfrared luminescence excited at 700, 800, and 980 nm should be ascribed to the electronic transition
3P
1
3P
0 of Bi
+ ions in three distinct sites. The shifting, broadening, and multiple configuration of the luminescencecould be due to the randomly disorder of local environment and multiple sites of the active centers. In thisglass, obvious optical amplification was realized at 1300 nm wavelength when excited at 808 and 980 nm,respectively.