Google has just experienced a breakthrough, and it could potentially revolutionize internet access by bringing it out of the literal dark ages. At the company’s experimental division, X, researchers have developed a chip that could enable high-speed internet access via light beams, making it possible to eliminate the need for underground cables.

The project, code-named Taara, has seen significant progress with the announcement of a new, next-generation chip by the team on Friday. This chip, a “silicon photonic chip,” has the capability to steer, track, and correct light beams used for data transmission without cables. Notably, this chip is remarkably small, approximately the size of a fingernail, compared to earlier versions that were as large as a traffic light.

According to Google, the Taara technology operates in a manner similar to fiber optic cables, which use light to transmit data. However, instead of using physical cables that are costly to lay underground, Taara transmits data directly through an invisible beam of light. The company claims that this technology can achieve data transfer speeds of up to 20 Gbps and can transmit data over distances of up to 12 miles.

Google is not the first to explore the use of light for data transmission. The concept of “Li-Fi” has been around for over a decade and has gained traction in recent years, including IEEE’s official recognition of the technology in 2023 and the establishment of standards for it. Starlink, for instance, uses lasers to transmit data from its low-orbit satellites to base stations on the ground.

Unlike Starlink, Taara does not beam data from space but rather across the earth. As long as the project’s light bridges have a clear line of sight (and the company is working to mitigate disruptors like birds, rain, and fog), they can remain connected and transmit data. In an interview with Wired, project lead Mahesh Krishnaswamy made some ambitious promises, including a comparison with some competitors. “We can offer 10, if not 100 times more bandwidth to an end user than a typical Starlink antenna, and do it for a fraction of the cost,” he stated, although Wired noted that this claim seems to be about Taara’s future potential rather than its current capabilities.

Taara is more than just a theoretical concept—it is already in use and commercially operational in 12 countries, according to Wired. It was also deployed at Coachella to supplement phone networks. Furthermore, experts believe that light-based technology might be crucial for future internet iterations, as radio frequency bands are running out of available bandwidth. This breakthrough could indeed bring light to the future of internet access.