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Google’s parent company Alphabet’s X division has announced a major advancement in its Taara project, unveiling a silicon photonic chip designed to enhance laser-based internet transmission. Since it establishes “light bridges” through beam lasers, Taara operates differently from fibre optics, transmitting 10 Gbps data over 1 kilometre distances.
The Taara chip has been redesigned to accommodate previously larger mechanical components, such as gimbals, mirrors, and lenses, in a compact, fingernail-sized package, thereby increasing its commercial potential.
Taara’s practical utility is demonstrated by its fivefold reduction in internet costs in Kinshasa and its operational connection between Brazzaville and Kinshasa. The system’s reliability was demonstrated by its ability to provide supplemental bandwidth at Coachella 2024, in addition to its current network infrastructure performance.
Project leader Mahesh Krishnaswamy claims that Taara’s technology could provide “10, if not 100 times more bandwidth” than satellite-based solutions like Starlink in densely populated areas. Astro Teller, the head of X, anticipates that this innovation will serve as the foundation for the forthcoming 7G networks as a result of the overcrowding of radio frequency bands.
Taara intends to release commercial products that utilise the new integrated circuit in 2026 while simultaneously exiting X and securing external financing. As Alphabet continues to push the boundaries of connectivity, Taara’s light-based internet transmission could usher in a new era of high-speed, cost-effective global internet access.
