Ericsson has expanded its partnership with Intel to develop and bring to market what it describes as AI-native 6G solutions.
Intel and Ericsson aim to jointly develop complete AI-native 6G solutions that span the full network spectrum, from connectivity to the cloud, RAN, packet core, and security. Ericsson retains its own silicon while Intel’s technology enhances performance.
The goal is to create a network design that integrates smart, programmable networks with advanced computing and real-time sensing. This should lead to more responsive, efficient, and capable services and help sensing and computing work more closely together.
6G is not simply an iteration of mobile technology. It is the infrastructure that will distribute AI across devices, the Edge and the Cloud, said Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm. Ericsson’s long history of network innovation and large-scale operator deployments enables us to lead practical integration across the value chain and move 6G from research into commercial reality.
Aside from the technology itself, the expanded partnership is a strategic move for Intel to strengthen its position in the telecom sector, following early progress in mobile with its Xeon-based v-RAN solutions. Intel has faced stiff competition from Nvidia, which is gaining ground with AI accelerators for networks like AI RAN.
Ericsson’s announcement comes soon after its rival, Nokia, shared updates on its progress in developing AI-native 6G infrastructure with NVIDIA. Last year, NVIDIA, a competitor to Intel, invested $1 billion in Nokia to support its AI-RAN ambitions.
Intel and Ericsson seek to differentiate themselves by emphasizing energy efficiency. Intel is recognized for CPUs and Nvidia for GPUs, which shape each company’s energy strategy.
Intel’s ambition is to be the undisputed technology leader in combining R&D and core and edge AI to enable an effortless transition to AI-native 6G environments. Together with Ericsson, we will continue to demonstrate that the future of network connectivity is open, power efficient, secure, and grounded in Intelligent AI Inference, said Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel.
With future Ericsson silicon powered by Intel’s most advanced process nodes, ongoing multi-year research plans, and flexible AI-RAN-ready cloud RAN powered by Intel Xeon, we are well on our way to bringing the future performance, efficiency, and supply security that the world’s leading operators require.
All four companies envision AI-powered 6G networks. For the US, Ericsson and Intel’s approach emphasizes coast-to-coast network coverage and energy efficiency, but the winning strategy remains to be seen.
Source: Ericsson and Intel lay out their vision for ‘AI-native 6G’
