Netflix's Entire Library Illegally Downloaded in a Moment: Unraveling the Mystery in Japan
In a groundbreaking achievement, Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has set a new record for internet speed, reaching 1.02 petabits per second (Pbps). This record-breaking speed was announced on July 10, 2025, and has gained significant traction on social media.
The NICT's achievement was conducted under controlled conditions with a specialized optical fiber setup, but it suggests the potential for future advancements in high-speed internet. The speed was demonstrated over existing standard-sized 19-core optical fiber cables, indicating that such ultra-high speeds could be realized using current infrastructure rather than requiring entirely new hardware.
At 1.02 Pbps, the technology can download the entire Netflix library or the English Wikipedia multiple times in just one second, highlighting the massive bandwidth and data handling capacity now possible. It showcases how extremely rapid data transfer can occur over long distances, here over about 1,800 km, which is typical for inter-city or even inter-country internet backbone routes.
This technological leap is seen as crucial infrastructure to support explosive growth in data-heavy applications such as AI, cloud computing, and large-scale international data transfers. The NICT's success is an indicator that the technology required for long-distance, high-capacity communication systems is advancing rapidly.
The record-breaking speed in Japan is approximately 2 million times faster than the average fiber-optic internet speed used by consumers in countries like France. While the current ultra-high speeds are backbone-level, the technology could trickle down, enabling significantly faster consumer internet in the future. However, last-mile infrastructure upgrades would be necessary to make such speeds accessible to users directly.
The achievement represents a major step forward in the potential for optical fiber technology. Mega-high-speed data transfer at petabit scales can massively boost international and intercontinental infrastructure, reducing bottlenecks and enabling more seamless cloud, video, and AI data flows. This technological breakthrough will serve as a foundation for post-5G and possibly 6G systems, as well as future communications paradigms requiring ultra-high speed and low latency.
Faster internet drives innovation in AI, automation, streaming, and other tech sectors globally, potentially reshaping how data-heavy industries operate and grow worldwide. Because the technology works on cables of current diameter with multiple cores, widespread adoption is more realistic without replacing large parts of existing fiber networks immediately.
In summary, Japan's achievement of 1.02 petabit per second internet speed marks a transformative milestone that demonstrates how future internet backbones could handle data volumes many millions of times greater than current consumer averages. This positions global data infrastructure to meet the demands of rapidly growing applications such as AI and streaming, while paving the way for much faster consumer internet speeds over time—assuming associated hardware and last-mile upgrades occur. It represents a leap forward not only in speed but in scalable, long-distance, practical fiber optic technology using existing infrastructure, signaling a new era of global internet connectivity and innovation.
Data-and-cloud-computing applications, such as AI and large-scale international data transfers, will greatly benefit from this technological breakthrough, as the new high-speed internet can handle data volumes far greater than current consumer averages. This achievement in technology opens up possibilities for future advancements in data-and-cloud-computing, demonstrating the potential for petabit-scale data transfer.
