Alphabet spins off Starlink competitor Taara

Light-based internet project Taara is exiting Alphabet’s “moonshot” incubator X, spinning off into an independent company. Taara’s tech uses lasers to transmit data, and is envisaged as a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink when it comes to connecting rural areas to the internet. The Financial Times reports that Alphabet will retain a minority stake in Taara, which has also secured funding from Series X Capital. The company currently has two dozen employees and operates in 12 countries, working on everything from connecting the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo to augmenting the congested network at the 2024 Coachella festival. “We’ve realised over time that for a good number of the things we create, there’s a lot of benefit to landing just outside of the Alphabet membrane,” said Eric “Astro” Teller, X’s so-called captain of moonshots. “They’re going to be able to get connected quickly to market capital, bring in strategic investors and generally be able to scale faster this way. ... Read full article.