It seems like just yesterday that the 5G rollout started. Now, at Mobile World Congress, major companies are already talking about commercializing 6G. Never mind that binding 6G standards haven't been nailed down yet.

The world has been joking about when telecoms would push the sixth generation of mobile networking ever since 5G came to dominate in the earlier part of the decade. Now there’s an excuse to push networking toward the sixth generation in the form of AI, and you can expect two of the biggest we’re-gonna-win-6G announcements at MWC to be loaded with AI as the catalyst for the tech’s arrival.

Nvidia [1]said over the weekend that it had entered into a commitment with a number of partners "to build the world's next generation of wireless networks on AI-native, open, secure and trustworthy platforms," whatever exactly that means.

[2]

Qualcomm [3]intends to do just that with its own coalition, thank you very much (there are a number of partners shared between the two initiatives), and it's going to make its own "AI-native" 6G system "that builds upon three key pillars: connectivity, wide-area sensing, and high-performance compute."

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The mobile modem maker isn't just going to do all that by 2029, mind you: It's also going to push for the development of 6G standards so it can figure out what exactly it's designing for.

That's right - Qualcomm knows this 6G thing is going to be important, and probably going to involve AI, so it'd really like "development of essential 6G standards, early system validation, demonstration of 6G spec-compliant pre-commercial devices and networks" by 2028 so it can get on "establishing a common industry benchmark for 6G readiness, and initial rollout of global and interoperable commercial 6G systems" in 2029.

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So, that's all the hard work done, then.

Nvidia's vision of the 6G future is one far more focused on AI-powered software-defined networking to build a generation of telecom equipment we can just keep updating instead of constantly having to redesign.

"6G networks, built on AI-RAN architecture, will continuously evolve through software, enabling real-time intelligence and rapid advancement," Nvidia said of its own plans. As mentioned, Nvidia and Qualcomm share a number of partners in their initiatives, with overlap from firms like BT Group, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile, Nokia, SK Telecom, Ericsson, and others.

So, what're we building again?

Both Qualcomm and Nvidia see a 6G future that's powered by AI, with intelligent radios and software-defined systems connecting devices in designs and volumes that are hard to fathom.

We'll need less latency to get there, says one, with better traffic management and real-time analytics to maximize data flow. We're going to need to think about the sheer volume of physical AI systems that are just over the horizon, says the other, and build for possibilities of the future and not just what we have now.

[7]AI's lust for memory drags down the smartphone industry, and Qualcomm with it

[8]Is it time for 6G already? Traffic analysis says yep

[9]ISP's ads 'misleadingly implied' existence of 6G, says watchdog

[10]Nvidia adds AI peanut butter to Nokia's 6G network chocolate, throws in $1 billion

As for what all that means, the jury, or more accurately, the standards boards, are still out.

The International Telecommunication Union published its [11]IMT-2030 framework for 6G in 2023 and is now working through requirements and evaluation criteria, while the 3rd Generation Partnership Project has [12]begun early-stage 6G study work of its own. But neither body has finalized technical specifications for commercial 6G systems. Yes, there's some miscellaneous tech that calls itself 6G out there, but without standards it doesn't mean much.

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But hey, we've got another opportunity to pump some [14]AI investment bucks into [15]that bubble , so hand over the compressor. ®

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[1] https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-and-global-telecom-leaders-commit-to-build-6g-on-open-and-secure-ai-native-platforms

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aaYWkBGB8DOhkrG6Qf8l-AAAAQM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2026/03/qualcomm-and-other-industry-leaders-commit-to-6g-trajectory-towa

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaYWkBGB8DOhkrG6Qf8l-AAAAQM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaYWkBGB8DOhkrG6Qf8l-AAAAQM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaYWkBGB8DOhkrG6Qf8l-AAAAQM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/05/qualcomm_q1_2026/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/29/mobile_industry_looks_to_6g/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/17/6g_internet_ads_misleadingly_implied/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/nvidia_nokia_partnership_6g/

[11] https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/PR-2023-12-01-IMT-2030-for-6G-mobile-technologies.aspx

[12] https://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/partner-pr-6g

[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaYWkBGB8DOhkrG6Qf8l-AAAAQM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/ai_is_not_a_bubble/

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/forrester_ai_spending/

[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/