Mechanical Design Engineer

Google Moonshot Taara's new photonics chip for light powered internet. Taara, a graduate of Google's X Moonshot Factory, has unveiled a new silicon photonics-based wireless communications platform, positioning it as an alternative to fibre and radio-based infrastructure for high-speed connectivity. The company announced Taara Photonics, described as the first wireless communication platform built on optical phased arrays, alongside Taara Beam - the first commercial product based on the new photonic core. The technology shifts free-space optical communication away from mechanically steered mirrors and moving parts toward solid-state electronic control of light. Taara Beam is designed to deliver up to 25Gbps connectivity over distances of up to 10 kilometres. The system uses an integrated photonic module containing more than a thousand miniature light emitters arranged in an optical phased array, allowing the beam to be steered, shaped and tracked electronically. Free-space optical communication is not new. Variants have been used for years to bridge connectivity gaps where fibre is unavailable or prohibitively expensive. However, traditional systems rely on precision mechanical components to align and maintain the light beam between two fixed points - an approach that can introduce complexity, alignment challenges and maintenance overhead, particularly in dense or dynamic environments. Taara's approach replaces much of that mechanical infrastructure with a solid-state module. By integrating beam steering and control functions into a chip-scale photonic platform, the company claims it can reduce system size and improve reliability while enabling faster deployment. The broader ambition is to treat optical wireless links more like semiconductor platforms - improving performance, cost and scalability over time through chip-level innovation rather than physical redesign. If realised, that model could allow incremental upgrades without overhauling entire installations. Taara Beam is aimed at operators, enterprises and data infrastructure providers seeking high-throughput, low-latency links without trenching fibre or acquiring licensed radio spectrum. Because the system operates in the optical spectrum, it avoids radio spectrum congestion and associated licensing costs. Potential use cases include small-cell backhaul mounted on street infrastructure, campus connectivity, data centre interconnects, temporary event networks and dense urban mesh deployments. The unit is designed to be mounted on rooftops, poles or existing structures and deployed within hours. Taara's earlier Lightbridge system, which uses optical beams for connectivity, is already deployed in more than 20 countries, according to the company, with telecom operators including Airtel, Digicel, T-Mobile, SoftBank and Liquid. Beam represents the next iteration, reducing form factor to what the company describes as roughly shoe-box sized hardware. For markets such as smart cities and urban surveillance - where high-bandwidth links are needed to connect distributed cameras, sensors and edge compute nodes - the promise of fibre-like speeds without civil works is attractive. However, optical wireless links remain sensitive to environmental factors such as heavy rain, fog and line-of-sight obstructions, which can affect reliability depending on deployment conditions. The long-term viability of photonic wireless infrastructure will likely depend on how well solid-state beam steering performs under real-world conditions and whether it can maintain alignment and throughput across varying weather and urban interference scenarios. Taara plans to showcase the technology at Mobile World Congress, with Beam positioned as the first commercial step in what it describes as a broader photonic communications roadmap. As demand for high-capacity connectivity grows - driven by AI workloads, edge computing and dense device deployments - interest in alternatives to fibre build-outs is intensifying. Whether silicon photonics can meaningfully shift the economics and scalability of free-space optical networking will become clearer as these systems move beyond controlled demonstrations into sustained field deployments.

Alphabet spin-off Taara unveils chip-sized wireless optical tech. Taara has launched a potentially game-changing new wireless optical platform that significantly shrinks and simplifies the network architecture. February 24, 2026 Whereas before light beams had to be directed with mechanically controlled mirrors and sensors, the new Taara Photonics Platform arranges more than a thousand tiny light emitters into an optical phased array on an integrated circuit. Now, instead of having to mechanically steer the data stream, it can be done electronically, which according to Taara improves accuracy, reliability and latency, and thanks to the lack of motors and gears, it all fits into a much smaller form factor. "Silicon photonics allows us to integrate the core functionalities of wireless optical communication into a single module," said Devin Brinkley, SVP of engineering at Taara. "We've compressed most of the functionality of our previous systems into a photonic module the size of a finger. As the technology matures, it can scale across performance, cost, and size - similar to the exponential pace at which semiconductor platforms evolve." What's more, in this case there is none of the usual lag between showcasing a new invention and its commercialisation. Taara Beam, the first product based on the new platform, has also been unveiled. Roughly the size of a shoebox, Taara claims it can be installed on poles, rooftops or existing structures in mere hours, and once up and running it can provide low latency connections of up to 25 Gbps at distances of up to 10 km. It's worth noting that while maximum throughput has gone up from the 20 Gbps that was achieved by Taara's previous, mechanical offering, Lightbridge, its maximum effective range has halved from 20 km, which suggests that power output may have been sacrificed in service of the smaller form factor. Nevertheless, on paper it is still an impressive-sounding bit of kit, and given the interest Taara has received so far, it probably won't be long before the new platform is put through its paces in the real world. Indeed, Taara's tech has already been deployed in over 20 countries by operators like Airtel, Digicel, SoftBank, T-Mobile, and Liquid Telecom - not bad for a company that was spun off from Alphabet's Moonshot Factory last March. Last November, it struck a deal with The City of Rio de Janeiro to deploy more than 20 links that connect various public buildings - including schools, hospitals and government centres - creating a mesh network that improves connectivity in areas where it has hitherto been spotty or unreliable. "Every generation of connectivity has been defined by a physical constraint - copper's speed, fibre's time to deploy, and the scarcity of radio spectrum," said Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Taara's founder and CEO. "With light transmitted through the air, those constraints begin to disappear. Taara Beam is the first commercial product built on our photonics platform, and it's just the beginning. We're not just improving networks, we're removing the limits that have defined them. Clear line of sight and the fact that transceivers have to point straight at one another are two pretty big physical constraints, but that doesn't mean wireless optical doesn't have its uses. Taara is pitching its tech for small-cell backhaul and fronthaul links in urban environments, as well as for data centre and campus networking. Anyone interested will be able to judge the new tech for themselves at Mobile World Congress (MWC) next week. "We're excited to showcase this breakthrough technology at MWC, building toward a future where connectivity feels less like infrastructure and more like the air we breathe - essential, abundant, and almost invisible to the people who rely on it," said Krishnaswamy. It also means there will be at least one exhibitor that isn't banging on incessantly about AI. Freelance writer Nick is a freelancer who has covered the global telecoms industry for more than 15 years. Areas of expertise include operator strategies; M&As; and emerging technologies, among others. As a freelancer, Nick has contributed news and features for many well-known industry publications. Before that, he wrote daily news and regular features as deputy editor of Total Telecom. He has a first-class honours degree in journalism from the University of Westminster. Join 56,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.