Catenaa, Sunday, March 01, 2026- Nvidia is throwing its weight behind an effort to make sure the forthcoming 6G phone networks provide a strong platform for services and devices that take advantage of AI.

Nvidia is teaming up with a group of telecommunications companies, including Nokia Oyj, SoftBank Group, and T-Mobile US, that will commit to building sixth-generation networks based on computers and software capable of using AI to help direct radio traffic safely and efficiently.

The change is necessary because of myriad devices that will be attached to networks in the future and their more complex requirements, Nvidia said Sunday in a statement timed for the opening of a telecom industry conference in Barcelona.

The current generation, 5G, was designed to connect people via voice and data and provide them with retrieved information. It isn’t capable of supporting the widespread use of AI, Nvidia said.

“The networks of today simply aren’t ready for the use cases of tomorrow,” said Ronnie Vasishta, who heads Nvidia’s telecommunications business and strategy. “In the AI era, everything changes. Networks will deliver intelligence, not just for humans on their phones, but for machines.”

Telecommunications networks will require “hundreds of thousands of times” more efficiency because there isn’t enough radio spectrum to support the new uses, he said.

The chipmaker, whose gear is at the center of the AI explosion, is trying to carve out a new market and clear a potential roadblock. Nvidia already offers versions of its chips, computers and software for use in networks and hopes to expand that business.

At the same time, the company needs AI to spread to more areas, in things termed physical AI, like robots and vehicles, to continue to fuel demand and pay for the data centers that are currently the biggest consumers of its technology.

Without wireless networks enabled for AI traffic, Nvidia’s vision of a world full of humanoid robots and self-driving cars might be slower to emerge.