LIVE FROM MWC26 BARCELONA: Nvidia drew big-name operators to an initiative focused on delivering 6G infrastructure, exploiting its AI credentials to position itself at the forefront of the next-generation communications technology.

BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom (SKT), SoftBank Corp and T-Mobile US signed up to the initiative, billed by Nvidia as a bid to ensure 6G networks maintain current progress involving openness and resilience.

Ericsson, Nokia, Booz Allen and Cisco are also onboard, along with specialist groups and the Open Centralised Unit Distributed Unit (OCUDU) Ecosystem Foundation, a freshly launched Linux Forum initiative focused on AI-RAN innovations.

Nvidia is trying to ensure AI is included in 6G networks by design and noted the next-generation technology would exceed the voice and data communication design parameters of 5G by providing connectivity for “billions of autonomous machines, vehicles, sensors and robots”.

Founder and CEO Jensen Huang said telecoms is the next sector set to be revolutionised by AI and the RAN league the company is assembling would promote the technology’s use in global communications networks.

Operator chiefs enthused about the potential AI-native networks offer: BT CEO Allison Kirkby hopes to simplify development of 6G; Deutsche Telekom chief Tim Hoettges highlighted potential customer experience benefits; and SKT president and CEO Jung Jai-hun said it fits with the operator’s transformation plans.

SoftBank EVP and CTO Hideyuki Tsukuda predicted 6G technology with AI by design would “transform wireless networks into secure, software-defined infrastructure” and T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan highlighted the move as a natural next step after the work the industry put into using AI in current 5G infrastructure.

Nvidia lures operators, vendors with AI 6G pitch