Japanese operator KDDI renewed an IoT connectivity management deal with US platform provider Aeris, a significant backing for the company and its development of the set-up since acquiring it from Ericsson in 2023.

KDDI signed up to what is now the Aeris IoT Accelerator in 2017 and remained a customer after Ericsson’s sale, tapping global connectivity orchestration, management of devices throughout their lifecycles, security and diagnostics, and eSIM orchestration capabilities.

Aeris stated modernisation of the platform involved cloud-readiness along with broader cooperation between international connectivity providers.

The platform is used in 104 million IoT devices and 42 million connected vehicles.

KDDI stands to benefit from “seamless service continuation” as a result of the renewed contract.

The Japanese operator is an important spearhead for Aeris’ ambitions to access what it stated is strong growth in IoT connectivity throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The company expects the global market to grow by 21.7% by 2033 on demand for secure connectivity capable of operating in multiple markets across various industries.

Aeris highlighted automotive and utilities as among the target markets.

The post KDDI refreshes Aeris IoT management deal appeared first on Mobile World Live.

SpaceX has agreed to acquire startup Cursor in a $60 billion deal, the latest move in Elon Musk’s push to close the gap with rivals on AI-powered coding tools.

A regulatory filing today (16 June) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed Cursor investors will receive SpaceX stock based on the implied $60 billion equity value of the startup.

The transaction, which converts an earlier option into a binding merger agreement, is expected to close in Q3. After gaining regulatory approvals, Cursor will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX. The filing was signed by SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen.

The deal came a week after SpaceX completed the largest initial public offering in history.

Bloomberg reported the Cursor acquisition is central to SpaceX’s ambitions for its AI business.

The news outlet noted Musk has publicly acknowledged xAI, which is now part of SpaceX’s operations, trails rivals including Anthropic and OpenAI on coding capabilities.

Bloomberg also reported SpaceX’s AI unit has been hit by internal turmoil, with dozens of departures across engineering and data training and ongoing difficulty recruiting top talent, prompting Elon Musk to bring in leadership from Starlink to steady the business.

It also noted US-based Cursor, whose AI coding assistant launched in 2023, has become one of the fastest-growing coding startups by helping developers write and debug software through chatbot prompts.

Before SpaceX moved to acquire the company, Cursor was reportedly in talks for a funding round that would have valued it at more than $50 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The post SpaceX seals $60B Cursor deal to boost AI coding appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Global 5G subscriptions crossed the 3 billion mark in Q1 2026, according to Ericsson’s latest mobility report, as the vendor found changing usage patterns, spikes in data traffic and AI-driven services are fuelling mobile uplink data growth.

Ericsson found 162 million 5G subscriptions were added during the opening quarter of the year. The figure is forecast to more than double to 6.4 billion by the end of 2031.

Overall, Ericsson expects 5G to account for 85% of all mobile data traffic in five years, up from 48% at the end of last year. Indeed, the vendor highlighted changing network traffic patterns as uplink grows generally faster than downlink. Out of 55 service providers, 43 recorded higher uplink growth than downlink, while 17 reported more than 1.5 times higher uplink growth rate.

Ericsson attributed the trend to smartphone communication, collaboration apps, user-generated content and cloud storage. It forecast AI traffic could further push uplink volumes in 2031 to at least three times 2025 levels.

Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden explained mobile networks are “no longer only about providing best-effort connectivity”, but about “critical, intelligent infrastructure that meets diverse application needs”.

“With the upcoming transition to physical AI, traffic patterns will fundamentally shift,” he added, forecasting a transition from centralised AI models in data centres to distributed, autonomous agents connected by 5G.

Commercial 5G
According to the report, around 390 service providers have launched commercial 5G services, with more than 90 offering standalone (SA) 5G. The vendor also found a rise in SA 5G network slicing offers, which rose globally from 65 in its November 2025 report to 84 today.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) remained another bright spot. Ericsson stated 71% of FWA providers now offer the service over 5G, compared to 57% of providers in June 2025. The report pointed to robust 5G FWA momentum in North America, the Nordics, GCC countries and parts of Asia, though it noted growth in Latin America, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia remains limited.

Looking ahead, the vendor added industry attention is turning to 6G, with initial commercial services expected around 2030 and China, US, Japan, South Korea and GCC countries tipped as early adopters.

The post Ericsson hails 5G momentum as subs top 3B appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Ericsson announced CEO Borje Ekholm (pictured) will step down at the end of September, with current networks chief Per Narvinger set to be elevated to the top job.

Ekholm, who has been at the helm of the Swedish vendor since the start of 2017, will act as an executive adviser at the company when he relinquishes his position, until 15 June 2027.

Incoming boss Narvinger is currently head of Business Area Networks at the vendor, a position he has held since March 2025.

Prior to taking the networks brief, he headed-up its Cloud Software and Services division. He has been at the company his entire career, which started in 1997.

Ericsson chair Jan Carlson said Narvinger brings “deep technical knowledge of our industry as well as extensive commercial experience and has proved himself in several key leadership positions”.

Carlson added the outgoing chief’s tenure of almost a decade was “defined by extraordinary leadership and strategic advancements” asserting the company had solidified its position as a “leading provider of trusted communications networks”.

He credited Ekholm with challenging “traditional thinking” and positioning the company for long-term success.

Challenges
Ekholm joined Ericsson in 2017 during what he described at the time as a period of “intense change”, with the vendor mid-way through a significant restructure.

Reflecting on his time in charge, the executive stated “we have turned Ericsson around and emerged as a global communications and technology leader” since he arrived.

“Today, Ericsson is driving the transformation of mobile connectivity by changing how networks are used and commercialised, and we are leading the industry into the next stage of AI: the physical AI era. It is our ability to innovate, to adapt and to compete globally that continues to define us.”

He backed Narvinger as the “right leader to continue developing this great company”.

The incoming chief described the appointment as a great honour, adding he was taking over at a “pivotal time in our industry”.

“As AI continues to industrialise, this will increasingly require advanced connectivity solutions, an area where Ericsson is leading,” Narvinger said.

The post Ericsson CEO Ekholm set for exit appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The French government outlined a major sovereign AI push, declaring its intelligence agency would stop working with US company Palantir in favour of a local alternative alongside a pledge to invest €655 million in the technology through to 2030.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced the plans in a video on X as the country advances its sovereign technology ambitions and a desire to reduce dependence on US offerings.

The debate around sovereignty continues to heat up: the US recently hit the brakes on a couple of Anthropic models due to national security concerns.

Prime Minister Lecornu pointed to the issue in announcing the decision to cut ties with Palantir, stating “France must have its own tools”.

“We cannot rely on the goodwill of certain partners who, as we have seen in recent days, are capable of cutting off access to the Anthropic model.”

Intelligence agency DGSI is to replace Palantir’s data tools with an alternative made by privately-controlled French company ChapsVision.

Palantir had worked with the agency for around a decade and announced a three-year renewal in December 2025.

Concerns have been raised about Palantir due to ambitions in Europe to reduce the amount of sensitive data processed by US-based companies.  

The company was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, who has strong links to the US government.

Revolution
The prime minister said the €655 million investment would go towards infrastructure, computing capacity, research, business and industrial sectors.

As part of the plans, the government aims to provide all civil servants with a conversational assistant from domestic company Mistral AI, in addition to a public health assistant by the end of the year.

“We can undergo this revolution. Or we can lead it. France has chosen. It will rise to the challenge of this revolution and intends to claim its full place in it,” Prime Minister Lecornu said.

The post France ends Palantir AI deal in sovereign push appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The TM Forum added satellite to an existing framework for digital networks in recognition of forecasts space-based connectivity is poised to become a significant earner over the next 10 years.

Companies including Rakuten Group, Huawei and Netcracker Technology are joined by operators Telekom Deutschland and Vodacom Group among the initial members of the Open Digital Architecture (ODA) for Satellite initiative.

The standards organisation stated the full potential of satellite for services including IoT and direct-to-device connectivity is being held back by various incompatibilities between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, highlighting billing systems and requirements for specialised devices as examples.

Dr Ryan van den Bergh, managing executive for group technology strategy, architecture, spectrum and assurance at Vodacom, said “greater interoperability and simpler integration” are needed to capitalise on the “significant opportunities” to use satellite connectivity as a complement to ground-based networks.

The TM Forum’s existing ODA covers digitalisation measures spanning automation and intelligence. It stated the satellite element adds standard frameworks, operating models and governance for companies working in the terrestrial and non-terrestrial sectors.

It expects the architecture to lay the groundwork for “seamless multi-orbit service delivery” along with speeding integration and boosting the overall value of space and land-based infrastructure.

Willie Stegmann, the body’s EVP for composable IT and ecosystems, said ODA for Satellite is “a call to action” for the telecoms industry.

The group is “overcoming challenges and unlocking avenues for growth…before operating models, customer ownership and value chains are defined elsewhere”.

The post TM Forum tackles satellite integration appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Telia identified emergency services, energy, transport, industry and healthcare as target sectors for an IoT connectivity service using standalone (SA) 5G the company launched in Sweden.

The operator asserted Telia Critical IoT Connectivity was the first commercially available product of its type in the country to use the network technology, highlighting it had already rolled out SA 5G widely in the nation.

Pointing to frequently promoted advantages of the network architecture for slicing and provision of low-latency, secure communications, it noted SA 5G enabled smart traffic management, and is optimised for video and data.

These factors ensure “reliable performance for key applications even at peak times”.

Head of B2B at Telia Sweden Fredrik Stenberg said the product creates the conditions for customers to “use new digital solutions in the most critical parts of their operations, where the demands are greatest, without compromising security or control”.

The service has been developed partly using the experience and insights Telia gained from NorthStar 5G, a programme launched alongside Ericsson carrying European Union funding which is focused on increasing uptake of the technology in industry.

Its commercial offer on SA 5G is Telia’s second major IoT product announcement in the space of a month.

In May it unveiled Telia IoT Connect, a service providing sovereign infrastructure aimed at companies and authorities requiring secure and resilient communications while keeping all data within Sweden.

The post Telia employs SA 5G for critical IoT appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Italy’s antitrust regulator opened an investigation into Apple over alleged violations of the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), centred around third-party interoperability policies with its operating systems and iCloud service.

The competition watchdog stated under DMA rules Apple must ensure third-party cloud providers are granted free and effective interoperability with iOS and iPadOS, as well as access under equal conditions to the same hardware and software features as those available to Apple iCloud.

The authority stated it had indications third-party providers “may not be placed on an equal footing” as Apple’s iCloud, pointing to the fact they appear to lack access to the same features used or made available to the in-house service.

For example, Italy’s regulator stated it appears Apple does not allow alternative cloud storage services to use iOS and iPad features enabling end users to fully backup data.

It will now conduct a deeper investigation into potential violations, before sending findings to the European Commission.

It is the first time the Italian authority has launched a probe under the DMA, which allows national authorities to launch initial investigations.

Apple has been a vocal critic of the EC regulation, which came into force in 2022 with the goal of curbing big tech dominance in favour of smaller players.

In September 2025, the iPhone giant demanded the European Union abandon the legislation, arguing it was making it harder for technology companies to do business, reduced consumer choice and created an unfair competitive landscape.

The post Italy launches Apple cloud probe under DMA appeared first on Mobile World Live.

A US federal judge reportedly dismissed xAI’s trade secret lawsuit against rival OpenAI with prejudice, dealing another legal blow to Elon Musk in his widening battle with Sam Altman’s company.

Reuters reported Elon Musk-owned xAI failed to demonstrate OpenAI induced former xAI engineer Xuechen Li to misappropriate trade secrets, or that Li disclosed any confidential information during a presentation he gave while OpenAI was recruiting him.

In the order, the judge wrote xAI essentially equated asking a job candidate about prior work experience with encouraging a potential employee to divulge trade secrets obtained during that work.

The news agency stated the dismissal with prejudice means xAI cannot raise the same claims again.

The judge already dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in February, giving xAI an opportunity to strengthen its case. Having found xAI failed to cure the shortcomings in its amended complaint, the judge ruled it would be futile to allow further attempts.

The lawsuit was originally filed in September 2025, alleging OpenAI engaged in a coordinated campaign to hire away xAI employees to access trade secrets related to its Grok chatbot, including source code and data centre deployment strategies.

Musk’s AI company claimed former employees took confidential material when they left for roles at OpenAI.

Reuters noted OpenAI previously called the lawsuit baseless and part of Musk’s ongoing campaign of harassment against the company.

The case is part of a broader legal battle between Musk and OpenAI, which he co-founded alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman before departing.

Musk is separately suing OpenAI over its conversion to a for-profit company, while the AI firm has countersued Musk for harassment.

xAI also sued Apple in federal court, alleging it conspired with OpenAI to suppress rival platforms.  

The post Judge tosses out xAI, OpenAI trade secret lawsuit appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AT&T Business expanded the reach of its 400G wavelength connectivity into 16 additional US metropolitan areas, extending the service as enterprises face mounting pressure to support AI-era traffic at scale.

With the 400G wavelength edgeless handoff capability now live across 440,000 properties serving more than 2.3 million business tenants, the mobile operator is targeting rapid deployment within 15 days where eligible.

AT&T stated the 400G rollout is designed to connect AI workloads from any location to the cloud, with security embedded in the network rather than added on top.

The company’s edgeless design approach anchors 400G at key interconnection hubs where cloud, network and enterprise traffic converge. It is currently in more than 130 carrier hotel locations nationwide.

The architecture is intended to deliver consistent handoff and predictable performance without requiring traditional network edge builds at every location or data centre.

Amrit Singh, industry principal for information communications technology at Frost & Sullivan, stated AT&T’s wavelength services reflect the infrastructure rigour required for the AI era, citing the company’s fibre reach and a successful 1.6 Tb/s single-carrier wavelength trial.

For enterprises scaling AI across multiple sites, AT&T noted the ability to avoid stitching together multiple smaller circuits as workloads grow is a key benefit for the service.

Branch locations, campuses and edge environments requiring high-capacity connectivity to centralised compute and cloud services are among the primary use cases for the service.

The post AT&T extends 400G network to meet AI traffic surge appeared first on Mobile World Live.