Taara launching photonics communications platform for high-speed internet

23 Feb 2026

Silicon photonics-based approach to make its debut at MWC 2026 in Barcelona.

U.S.-based communications company Taara, self-described as “Google’s moonshot company”, has launched Taara Photonics – which it claims is “a new way to transmit ultra-high-speed internet through the air optically”. To achieve this, Taara has fitted the core technology onto a single chip.

The startup’s first product built on the chip is Taara Beam, which can be deployed in hours, according to the announcement, and can deliver “fiber-like speeds but without requiring cables – or spectrum licenses.”

Taara Photonics is said to enable networks that can be deployed in hours, scaled more flexibly, and improved over time, without the constraints of trenching fiber or securing scarce spectrum.

The proprietary optical phased arrays were developed at X and Taara labs over the past several years. Taara Beam is the first product built on this photonic platform, delivering up to 25 Gbps of high-speed, low latency connectivity over distances up to 10 km in a compact, deployable form factor.

Designed for operators, enterprises, and next-generation data infrastructure, Taara Beam enables fiber-like speeds in environments where traditional infrastructure is too slow, costly, or impractical to build—marking a shift from fixed, physical networks to infrastructure that can evolve at the pace of demand, the developer stated.

Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Founder and CEO of Taara, commented, “Every generation of connectivity has been defined by a physical constraint—copper’s speed, fiber’s time to deploy, and the scarcity of radio spectrum. With light transmitted through the air, those constraints begin to disappear.

He added, “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. 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.”

How it works

Taara Beam is described as “representing a new architecture, shifting from mechanical control to increasingly solid-state control of light.”

At its core is an integrated photonic module containing morethan 1000 miniature emitters arranged in an optical phased array – a solid-state steering device. This phased array allows Taara Beam to track, shape, and steer light with greater precision, improving reliability and latency while significantly reducing size and mechanical complexity.

Devin Brinkley, SVP of Engineering at Taara, added, “Silicon photonics allows us to integrate the core functionalities of wireless optical communication into a single module. We have 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.”

Taara already uses optical systems to extend high-speed internet to places where traditional infrastructure is difficult to deploy. Its first system, Taara Lightbridge, is now deployed in over 20 countries with operators including Airtel, Digicel, T-Mobile, SoftBank, and Liquid.

Reducing the size of Taara’s wireless optics technology into a shoe-box sized form factor, Beam significantly increases network density and flexibility. This enables high-throughput, low-latency connectivity across urban environments, enterprise campuses, data center clusters, and event venues.

Taara Beam will make its official industry debut at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2026, which takes place between 2-5 March. Att he event, Krishnaswamy will present a live demonstration of the new photonic core on the “Game Changers” stage.