IT provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) teamed with Anthropic to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, with a focus on highly regulated sectors where accuracy, auditability and governance requirements have historically slowed deployments.

As a Global Premier Partner in the Claude Partner Network, TCS will establish a dedicated business unit focused on delivering industry services and AI expertise built on Anthropic’s Claude family of models, with early access to new releases.

It will also provide Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant to more than 50,000 employees across engineering, finance, legal, marketing, and sales.

The two companies will jointly go to market with AI capabilities across financial services, public services, life sciences, healthcare, aviation, telecom, and medtech.

The partnership also spans several TCS businesses and platforms. Diligenta, TCS’s UK-based life and pensions business with over 22 million customers, will use Claude to improve customer experience through agentic process transformation.

TCS iON, which conducts more than 75 million annual assessments across 1,500 cities in India, will deliver learning and certification programmes on Claude models to help build an AI-certified workforce.

K Krithivasan, CEO and managing director of TCS, stated enterprise AI value comes from understanding business context, orchestrating complex systems and applying deep AI engineering talent.

“By combining Claude with our industry expertise, engineering rigour and large-scale transformation capabilities, we will help customers move faster to production, especially in industries where trust, resilience and regulatory discipline are critical,” he said.

The partnership comes as Anthropic, now valued at $965 billion, looks to extend the momentum which has pushed its valuation above rival OpenAI, with both startups moving towards public listings.

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GSMA warned 810 million women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still do not use mobile internet, flagging slow progress in closing the digital gender gap.

In its latest Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026, the industry association found that in comparison, 595 million men in the same markets are not connected to mobile internet. Indeed, women in LMICs were 12% less likely than men to use mobile internet, leaving 200 million fewer women online.

Smartphone ownership remains a major barrier, as women in LMICs are 13% less likely than men to own a smartphone, equivalent to around 210 million fewer female owners.

The report found awareness of mobile internet is high and almost equal among men and women, but adoption continues to be held back by handset affordability, literacy and digital skills gaps. Even after women are connected, usage remains restricted due to safety and security concerns, data affordability and poor connectivity.

GSMA explained women are disproportionately affected due to social norms and structural inequalities, including lower education and income.

The report found the divide most acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where mobile internet adoption stands at 26% and 25% respectively. The regions together also account for more than two-thirds of the 810 million unconnected women.

Women in rural areas continue to face a sharper divide, with the report stating the gender gap is typically two to three times wider outside urban areas. The disparity is particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Looking ahead, the industry association estimated closing the mobile internet adoption gap in LMICs between 2023 and 2030 could add $1.3 trillion to GDP. Meanwhile, narrowing the wider mobile ownership and usage gap could generate $230 billion in additional revenue for the mobile industry.

It called for coordinated action on handset and data affordability, digital skills, safety, services designed for women and wider structural inequalities.

Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at GSMA, said “much more is needed to address the persistent and significant gender gaps in mobile internet adoption and use”. She warned AI and other emerging technologies are “creating greater digital divides and inequities”, making digital inclusion increasingly urgent.

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Standards body ETSI proclaimed European digital identity infrastructure as being on the brink of a major transformation due to the release of its first specifications for a regional virtual ID set-up.

ETSI stated 450 million European Union (EU) citizens stand to benefit from the standards for the European Digital Identity Wallet programme, an initiative ultimately intended to act as identity verification and a means of securely sharing a variety of details about a person and their qualifications.

There are more than 24 specifications in ETSI’s first release for the programme and the body stated its technical groups would work on more over the next 18 months.

“Our goal is to make digital interactions across Europe as easy and trustworthy as possible,” Nick Pope, chair of ETSI’s Electronic Signatures and trust infrastructures committee said.

He explained ETSI has a “long expertise in electronic signatures, cybersecurity and trust data management”.

ETSI explained the EU is working to simplify access to online services by enabling single sign-on in place of multiple passwords. People will be able to “store and manage official digital documents, share verified information such as diplomas or licenses and sign documents with legally binding electronic signatures”.

As such, it’s initial batch of standards cover attestation profiles, policies for certification and so-called “trust list formats”.

Protocols for remote signatures, proving identity and data storage are also included.

The EU hopes the digital wallet system will simplify access to government services, healthcare, banking, travel and education.

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Global logistics player LX Pantos made a major move around robotics, tasking LG’s consulting unit with helping to research the potential around using humanoid and shuttle variants.

LG CNS is to work with LX Pantos on an automation system to incorporate the two types of robots into the specialist’s Megawise Cheongna Logistics Centre, a fulfilment facility in South Korea spanning 142,852 square metres

The facility is one of 380 logistics hubs LX Pantos operates globally. Shuttle robots are to be used to retrieve items which humanoid versions would then sort and dispatch.

Robots are to be trained using LX Pantos’ field data through a proprietary learning platform. The machines themselves are being sourced from US specialist Dexmate, a company which LG CNS previously invested in.

Park Sang-kyun, EVP and head of Telecommunications, Distribution and Service Business division at LG CNS, said the companies would look to “verify the applicability of various robots”, learning and “operation platforms to logistics sites”.

The company explained the Dexmate mobile shuttle robot has a velocity of 1.5 metres per second and can handle goods weighing up to 1,500kg.

LG CNS and LX Pantos intend to establish a demonstration zone to showcase the potential of their robotics collaboration later this year, pitching possible benefits including a reduction in repetitive tasks at the logistics facility.

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Ericsson unveiled a software subscription designed to bring telco-grade AI models directly into basebands and radios to enable operators to boost 5G performance, automation and energy efficiency without adding new hardware.

According to the vendor, the software uses AI models designed to operate in real time within the RAN, supported by continuous learning and agentic AI capabilities for more advanced network operations. The company stated its telco-grade models are built for ultra-low latency inference, with a focus on reliability across diverse RAN environments.

The service works with Ericsson 5G Advanced across purpose-built and Cloud RAN platforms. Ericsson stated the software uses its silicon in radios and the latest generation of RAN compute to employ “the right AI model in the right part of the radio network”, while its AI capabilities can also be deployed across partner platforms.

The first features are now available, with more to follow later in the year. Initial functions include AI-powered scheduler for link adaptation, beamforming and multi-layer coordination.

Ericsson claimed the technology has been deployed in more than 15 trials worldwide, delivering up to 20% higher downlink throughput and up to 10% better spectral efficiency, alongside support for up to twice as many high-traffic users. It also said AI in RAN could achieve up to 95% coverage prediction accuracy.

Marten Lerner, head of networks strategy and product management at Ericsson, said the company is “redefining what’s possible in mobile networks by bringing powerful AI capabilities to service providers”, adding “we are taking a major step toward AI-native networks”.

Further comments from Ericsson partners SoftBank, Bell, SK Telecom and Rogers focused on the software’s potential benefits around real-time optimisation, network performance, energy savings, automation and support for emerging AI-driven services.

Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts, added: “With a software upgrade, operators can squeeze more capacity, better observability, and more accurate location-based services out of the 5G network they bought years ago.”

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Nokia positioned the forthcoming addition of an agentic AI framework into its network services platform (NSP) as giving operators the ability to adopt agents using trusted data within secure boundaries.

The vendor stated the move would provide the means for customers to introduce AI operations for IP networks, with agents able to take guided, explainable actions based on real network data.

Commercial availability of the functionality is expected by the end of the year.

Nokia’s NSP is its management and automation platform for multi-vendor IP networks. It asserted the addition of the AI framework supports communication with external agents and would aid operators on their routes towards employing fully automated networks.

The company explained “while AI has the potential to transform network operations, many operators have remained cautious due to concerns around explainability, trust and risk in production environments”.

Its approach to ease these concerns is by “embedding agentic AI capabilities directly into the platform that already serves as the authoritative controller for IP networks”.

The vendor announced the first agent able to use the framework is a troubleshooting bot designed to help operators identify the root causes of problems faster and resolve complex issues.

Nokia VP and general manager for IP network automation software Sasa Nijemcevic said the move would “have a major impact on the way operators manage their networks, and will enable them to enhance their operations significantly and accelerate their journey toward autonomous networks with focus on solving real operational problems”.

“This is an incremental, pragmatic step toward AI‑native networks,” he added.

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AT&T unveiled a 24-hour unlimited wireless data service for iPad users in the US, available to any customer regardless of their existing operator for a flat daily rate of $3.

The company claimed to be the first major US wireless provider to offer on-demand connectivity for iPad users on a pay-as-you-go basis. The service is for models with mobile and Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities, with the 24-hour data window beginning shortly after purchase.

AT&T explained it is targeting consumers who do not activate mobile connectivity on compatible iPads, pitching the benefit of short-term network access for periods where users are not in Wi-Fi range.

It highlighted ease of use, stating the service is activated in device settings without the need for a dedicated app.

The first day pass is complimentary, with subsequent purchases charged to a credit or debit card.

Josh Goodell, VP of consumer product management, said the goal is to make connectivity simple across the devices people use most.

The operator positioned the launch as part of a broader effort to simplify connectivity and provide flexible options without long-term commitments.

Model compatibility ranges from seventh-generation iPads to the latest Pro and Air models with M3 chips.

AT&T ultimately plans to expand the service to other 5G-enabled devices including Android tablets, smartwatches, laptops and drones.

Multi-day options are also planned.

AT&T noted data rates may be temporarily reduced during periods of network congestion.

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AI platform disruptions rose sharply in early 2026 as growing enterprise adoption and heavier workloads exposed reliability issues across the full infrastructure stack, according to research from Ookla.

Analysing 471 days of US Downdetector data from 1 January 2025 to 16 April 2026 across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, AWS and Microsoft Azure, Ookla recorded 3.7 million user-reported problems.

High-signal disruption days, defined as when a service recorded more than 10 times its own median daily report volume, rose from six across four major AI apps in Q1 2025 to 51 in Q1 2026, according to the report by Ookla analyst Luke Kehoe.

Anthropic’s Claude model accounted for 39 of those 51 disruption days, making it the clearest example of scale-up volatility in the period. Gemini accounted for seven, Copilot three and ChatGPT two.

Claude recorded near-zero Downdetector reports in early 2025 before moving into a sustained report baseline from mid-July as adoption grew.

In Q1 2026, Claude generated 314,996 reports, while March volume alone was nearly three times February’s level. Ookla noted the pattern cannot be attributed to a single outage, with disruption clustered around demand surges, model-release windows and platform instability as Claude Code and Cowork usage scaled rapidly.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT produced the largest individual disruption signals in absolute terms, including roughly 68,000 reports on 2 December 2025, but its underlying reliability trend has improved.

Its monthly median daily report volume fell from a peak of 2,157 in April 2025 to 1,166 in April 2026, even as OpenAI reported more than 900 million weekly active users and rapid growth in Codex usage.

Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot showed smaller but distinct patterns. Gemini’s high-signal disruption days rose from zero in Q1 2025 to seven in Q1 2026, consistent with rapid user growth.

Copilot’s outage pattern reflected its position inside Microsoft’s broader enterprise range, with far fewer reports on weekends, reflecting enterprise-aligned use.

Cloud infrastructure also featured prominently in the reliability picture. AWS’s 20 October 2025 DynamoDB DNS event generated more than 315,000 US reports, while Microsoft’s Azure Front Door incident on 29 October produced nearly 96,000, illustrating how failures in cloud control planes can cascade into AI platform disruptions.

Ookla concluded AI reliability has moved well beyond model serving, with failure points now spanning feature gates, GPU fleets, developer APIs, login systems and demand-management policies, all of which can appear to the end user as a single outage.

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UK operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) and Mavenir completed a proof-of-concept trial of technology designed to improve call clarity for customers suffering hearing issues without having to make changes on their phone.

Unlike device-based accessibility features or third-party apps, the service works entirely within the operator’s network. This allows participants to make and receive calls without needing to change their device or how they use it.

In the test participants completed a short, automated hearing test to identify how they perceive different sound frequencies. Personalised hearing profiles were then generated and securely linked to their mobile numbers, enabling the network to adapt how speech is delivered to them during calls in real time.

Following the trial, nearly 90% of participants reported improvements in call clarity, with many noting reduced listening effort, fewer misunderstandings and a more natural calling experience.

Jorge Ribeiro, director of core networks at Virgin Media O2, stated the trial was about using intelligence within the network to improve the experience without asking customers to do anything differently.

“We are encouraged by the early results from this proof-of-concept and are excited to explore how this type of technology could support more accessible services for our customers in future,” he said.

While still at an early stage, O2 said it is encouraged by the results and is exploring how the technology could be developed further to support accessible services at scale.

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Managed services provider MetTel completed a rapid network capacity upgrade for the US General Services Administration (GSA), equipping 11 federal offices across the country with connectivity infrastructure to support the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate.

The project, delivered under the GSA’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, involved the installation of 22 high-capacity network circuits alongside SD-WAN technology and VoIP services, enabling hundreds of federal employees to return to fully connected work locations.

Among the most demanding elements was a 10-gigabit circuit requiring entirely new carrier infrastructure, which was completed in under 60 days to meet the expedited timeline of a Telecommunications Service Priority order.

Don Parente, vice president of public sector at MetTel, said the mandate created an urgent, real-world test of the company’s capabilities.

“Our operations team delivered fast, reliable network modernisation, meeting the Administration’s Executive Order to return to work,” he said.

The SD-WAN architecture, which MetTel had previously deployed for the GSA, was a key enabler of the fast turnaround. The technology provides intelligent traffic management, enhanced resiliency and centralised network visibility, while high-capacity circuits were tailored to the specific needs of each site.

Bandwidth was sized for future growth, building in capacity to support evolving workforce and digital requirements without requiring additional infrastructure overhauls.

The Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) programme under which the work was delivered, is a 15-year, $50 billion government-wide vehicle designed to help federal agencies modernise their telecommunications and network infrastructure.

US-based MetTel has held EIS contract authority since January 2020, delivering network modernisation, managed services and communications transformation projects throughout that period.

The upgrade underscores the broader infrastructure pressures facing federal agencies as the return-to-office push accelerates demand for reliable, high-capacity government networks.

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Counterpoint Research co-founder and research VP Neil Shah warned reports India hit the brakes on licensing SpaceX’s Starlink service could be bad news for the company’s IPO.

In a post on X, the analyst pointed to the scale of the Indian market along with highlighting the connection between revenue generation and investment in space projects.

Shah argued these elements are all at risk if India halts approvals for the launch of commercial Starlink services, in turn putting a “spanner in the wheel” of SpaceX’s pending IPO.

The reported timing of India’s intentions is “really bad”, Shah wrote.

Counterpoint Research’s executive was responding to a Bloomberg article indicated India had put approval processes on ice. Authorities are concerned over reports unlicensed Starlink terminals had been used in Iran, the news outlet stated.

Shah added India’s “highly sensitive, contested borders” are another factor, making the “threat of unmonitored, untraceable satellite terminals operating on its soil” without domestic oversight an “absolute red line”.

Bloomberg noted India’s population is the biggest in the world: Shah put the proportion at 40%.

The news outlet highlighted Lauren Dreyer, VP of Business Operations at Starlink, used X to explain the company “remains in active and productive discussions” with India’s government.

Dreyer branded the speculation “misleading” and “based on unsubstantiated claims from anonymous sources”.

Shah noted the potential licensing fracas indicates sovereignty assurances are emerging as an important requirement for privately-held companies seeking to deliver space-based services in “key economies”, pointing to moves by China and the European Union covering low Earh orbit services as examples.

Bloomberg stated SpaceX is preparing an expected historic listing on 12 June.

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Global data centre capital expenditure is on course to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 according to new research from Dell’Oro Group, as hyperscale AI deployments accelerate and rising memory and storage costs push overall server spending higher.

The research company raised its worldwide data centre capex outlook for the year following a strong Q1, citing a combination of AI expansion, continued investment in general-purpose infrastructure and component cost inflation as the primary drivers.

Baron Fung, senior research director at Dell’Oro Group, stated rising memory and storage pricing substantially increased overall server system costs in the quarter and will likely remain a major capex growth factor throughout the year.

“At the same time, AI infrastructure deployments continue to accelerate rapidly, while hyperscalers also expanded general-purpose infrastructure to support public cloud growth, agentic AI workloads, and rising AI-related storage requirements,” he said.

The scale of spending among the largest cloud providers is striking. Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, the top four US hyperscalers, increased data centre capex by 78% year-on-year, reflecting the intensity of the AI infrastructure race.

On the supply side, Dell led server OEM revenue followed by Supermicro and Lenovo, though white-box vendors serving the hyperscale market accounted for most overall server revenue. Nearly all server vendors benefited from higher memory-driven system pricing.

Despite already exceptional spending growth in the first half of the year, Dell’Oro expects capex growth to accelerate further in the second half, driven by the ramp-up of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform and refresh cycles for hyperscaler custom accelerator platforms.

Beyond the major cloud providers, Fung noted select enterprise verticals and sovereign cloud providers are also increasing AI infrastructure adoption, “though growth remains constrained by uncertain returns and infrastructure readiness”.

“While near-term demand remains healthy, some spending may have been pulled forward ahead of expected price increases later this year,” explained Fung.

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Telefonica revealed it reused or recycled more than 4 million devices in 2025, as the operator steps up efforts to hit its zero-waste target by 2030.

The Spanish operator said 95% of its waste was reused or recycled during the year, including 3 million routers and set-top boxes. Devices were collected from customers, operations and offices, with 75% reused and the remaining 25% recycled.

Telefonica also reused more than 780,000 units of network equipment in 2025, adding this enabled it to meet the GSMA-backed industry commitment to reuse and recycle 100% of collected equipment.

In addition, the company claimed progress in mobile devices, collecting nearly 95 tonnes of handsets and reusing more than 357,000 units. It noted this represented 15% of all devices distributed, with all recovered handsets either reused or recycled.

Supplier engagement also forms part of the programme, with the operator working to include circularity in the procurement and equipment design stage through recycling, durability and repairability requirements. Telefonica explained its zero-waste strategy prioritises reuse, with recycling used when equipment cannot be put back into service. This approach helps avoid the manufacture of new equipment and cuts associated resource use and CO2 emissions.

Maya Ormazabal, global director of sustainability at Telefonica, said: “The circular economy is a priority pillar in our sustainability strategy and a key driver for advancing toward a more efficient, innovative, and competitive company.”

She added the approach enables the operator to “contribute to a more responsible use of resources and the reduction of environmental impacts associated with technological activity”, while supporting “more sustainable access to digital capabilities for society”.

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Telefonica Tech targeted a bump to its IoT business in the US by providing the connectivity for a range of protective equipment produced by industrial health and safety product maker Halotech Digital Services.

An arrangement was made involving Telefonica Tech’s managed IoT connectivity with a Halotech Software-as-a-Service platform which uses AI to provide real-time information relating to worker safety in industrial settings.

Telefonica Tech country manager for the US Luis Lepe Marquez said the combination would help customers “transform workers’ day-to-day activities”, providing clear “actionable intelligence to improve safety”.

The operator unit explained Halotech AI integrates with various namesake protective helmets developed for “complex industrial settings” including mines and oil rigs.

Telefonica Tech is providing the connectivity to collect, transmit and process information from the safety wear to produce insights to improve staff procedures and help predict potential dangers. It listed automatic fall detection, emergency alerts, provision of location information and environmental monitoring among the capabilities on offer.

Real-time decision-making capabilities can reduce “workplace incidents by up to 60%”, Telefonica Tech stated.

Halotech CEO Manuel Marin said companies are changing their approach to safety by seeking systems which can help predict incidents instead of reacting to them.

The companies have history, having developed post-quantum encryption for various industries in 2024.

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The GSMA and a group of aviation, security and connectivity companies called for industry alignment on drone identification, tracking and connection in a bid to build safer airspaces.

In a Joint Requirements Statement developed through the GSMA’s Fusion initiative, contributors including Ericsson, Nokia, Viasat, NextNav and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre set out the role of mobile networks in supporting drone operations. The organisations urged operators, regulators, aviation stakeholders and governments to integrate telecom capabilities in future drone and airspace policy.

The group stated mobile networks could support drone identity, authentication, geolocation, real-time telemetry assurance, prioritised connectivity and cross-border interoperability. It also pointed to non-terrestrial networks as a key resilience tool for drone operations, especially in areas beyond traditional coverage for remote, maritime, disaster recovery and national security related missions.

Programmable network capabilities and APIs, including GSMA Open Gateway and CAMARA-aligned frameworks, were also tipped as tools to support aviation safety, security and efficiency requirements.

The group emphasised the importance of electronic conspicuity, the identification and visibility of drones and aircraft to airspace users and authorities through real-time data sharing. It highlighted the growing importance of drone tracking as governments and regulators step up the deployment of flights beyond the visual line of sight, drone first responder programmes and autonomous aircraft.

A lack of early coordination could leave the sector with fragmented national approaches before global drone frameworks are established, the group warned.

Barney Stinton, GSMA Fusion market development lead for aviation, said the drone market is “scaling far faster than many of today’s airspace and identification frameworks were originally designed for”, adding the statement is “an important signal from industry that mobile networks have a major role to play in supporting safe, trusted and interoperable drone operations at scale”.

He explained the goal is “not to replace existing aviation systems but to bring together aviation, government and telecom industries early enough to avoid fragmentation”.

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Meta Platforms expanded its partnership with Reliance Industries, agreeing to lease its first AI-enabled data centre in India as part of ambitions to grow its presence in the country.

Meta stated Reliance will build the facility in the Indian state of Gujarat with 168MW of capacity which Meta will use to “scale its AI infrastructure”.

The Facebook-owner explained it is investing aggressively to expand its capacity footprint, and India’s “tech-forward digital economy”, massive user base and the strength of its partnership with Reliance makes it the ideal location.

Reliance has identified Jamnagar, Gujarat as a strategic location, building out one of the largest data centre campuses in the world there, with access to the significant energy resources needed to power AI-enabled infrastructure.

The facility’s first phase will be to deliver 168MW of capacity, with options to scale.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the facility will help the company scale its AI infrastructure globally, “while deepening our long-term investment in India’s economy”.

Chairman and managing director of Reliance, Mukesh Ambani, added that building India’s first built-to-suit AI data centre for a company of Meta’s scale “demonstrates India’s readiness to be at the forefront of the global AI revolution”.

The collaboration builds on a long-standing partnership between the pair, with Meta investing $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020.

Clean energy
The site will be powered by renewable energy and cooled with desalinated seawater. Meta is set to cover the full cost of supporting the facility.

It has struck a deal for around 1GW of new clean and renewable energy, partnering with domestic companies CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy.

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SK Group, NTT and Chunghwa Telecom were among the parties to form an AI investment fund expected to reach $500 million, with the aim of backing companies working on technology related to optical and wireless networking.

The IOWN AI Fund has been established alongside Catalight Capital, a company set-up to manage the project from offices in Japan and the US.  

Other current financiers are Development Bank of Japan, and Young Sohn, an entrepreneur who is founding managing partner of VC company Walden Catalyst Ventures and former chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics.

In a joint statement, the companies and Sohn revealed more than 20 parties around the globe had expressed an interest in contributing to the fund, which is expected to reach $500 million in size.

Businesses apparently mulling the opportunity include KDDI, NEC, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Sony, Fujitsu and various VC companies.

Catalight Capital will be charged with hunting down promising start-ups for investment. Targets will be in technologies related to the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) ecosystem.

It intends to invest in companies working in areas including: photonics; AI processors and advanced packaging; light source and modulators; management technology for distributed AI infrastructure; software; AI models and inference; and applications and services.

Global push
SK Group chair Chey Tae-won stated he hoped the fund would: “play a key role in identifying and fostering AI start-ups not only across Asia but around the world”, noting “to emerge as a competitive AI nation, proactive and large-scale investment in AI infrastructure is essential, and trust-based global cooperation is equally important”.

NTT President and CEO Akira Shimada added “to realise AI-native infrastructure, it is essential to combine the optical and networking technologies that NTT has cultivated with advanced technologies and the strengths of partners”.

“Through the IOWN AI Fund, we will promote business collaboration with promising startups, work together with our global partners to build the IOWN ecosystem, and contribute to the creation of a new industrial foundation”.

IOWN is a vision initially pushed by NTT to drive next generation ICT infrastructure which uses optical networking technology to vastly cut electricity use while delivering high performance. The associated IOWN Global Forum has 170 member organisations.

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Vodafone Greece commenced early-stage talks about going Dutch on a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) venture with utility PPC Group, a combination with the potential to pass almost 2.5 million homes.

The head of terms discussion over the 50:50 joint venture also involves the companies’ respective wholesale fibre operations. Vodafone explained any combined business would provide open access to ISPs.

PPC stated the FTTH network of the subsidiary in line for the combination currently passes 1.9 million households and Vodafone’s 550,000.

Alexandros Paterakis, vice chair of the PPC FiberGrid unit and deputy CEO for digital services at the group, said any tie-up would create a “leading digital network infrastructure in Greece”, along with advancing various of the company’s strategic goals.

For Vodafone, any agreement would “substantially accelerate the development of our fibre network” CEO Achilleas Kanaris said.

He added Greece is strategically important to Vodafone Group as a whole and explained the unit is focused on expanding its footprint, shifting from “copper to fibre” and contributing to “national digital coverage objectives”.

The companies emphasised no binding commitments had been made and they are yet to embark on due diligence processes, though indicated intentions to do so with a view to signing binding agreements.

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Anthropic launched a public version of its Mythos AI model, but with guardrails in place to block its use in sensitive areas such as cybersecurity.

The AI player stated its Claude Fable 5 model is its most powerful to date on its launch yesterday (9 June), which is two months after Anthropic first unveiled its Mythos-class model.

The limited Mythos preview sent shockwaves through the industry after the model uncovered thousands of software vulnerabilities.

Last week Anthropic expanded the reach of its Mythos AI model to an additional 150 companies across more than 15 countries.

The startup describes Fable 5 as state-of-the-art on nearly all tested benchmarks of AI capability, claiming exceptional performance across software engineering, knowledge work, vision and scientific research. The longer and more complex the task, Anthropic stated, the larger Fable 5’s lead over its other models.

Anthropic stated it has done extensive testing to ensure users cannot manipulate Fable 5 into bypassing its guidelines. Queries on restricted topics will instead receive a response from the company’s Claude Opus 4.8 model.

The AI player acknowledged the safeguards are tuned conservatively and will sometimes catch harmless requests but said they trigger on average in fewer than 5% of sessions.

“With more capable models arriving in the coming months, we’re working to improve our safeguards and reduce false positives as quickly as we can,” Anthropic stated.

For a smaller group of cyber defenders and infrastructure providers, Anthropic is simultaneously launching Claude Mythos 5, which is the same underlying model as Fable 5 but with safeguards lifted in some areas.

Mythos 5 will initially be deployed through Project Glasswing in collaboration with the US government. It carries what Anthropic described as the strongest cybersecurity capabilities of any model in the world.

Users who had access to the Claude Mythos Preview will be able to upgrade to Mythos 5, with broader access planned through an expanded trusted-access programme.

Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are priced at $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens, less than half the price of Claude Mythos Preview.

The rollout comes as Anthropic, now valued at $965 billion, looks to extend the momentum which has pushed its valuation above rival OpenAI, with both startups racing toward public listings.

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Axon Networks acquired Greenwave Systems, combining two companies with shared roots to create a more unified, AI-powered network orchestration platform.

The US-based company stated the deal strengthens its cloud-agnostic Axon Maestro platform, purpose-built for telecom operators, institutions and enterprise service providers.

Greenwave’s software-defined mobile network services, including its network-as-a-service orchestration portfolio, will be added to Axon Maestro.

Greenwave’s technology will be folded into the Maestro platform as dedicated modules, with its engineering team shifting focus to OSS/BSS product development with expanded support for mobile connectivity.

Financial terms are not available.

At the heart of the integration is Axon’s real-time digital twin technology, which the company said will serve as the foundation for next-generation network inventory management.

Axon CEO Martin Manniche, who co-founded Greenwave in 2008 alongside other current Axon executives, stated operators are too often constrained by legacy operational support systems which require heavy customisation and slow down innovation.

“This limits their agility and effectiveness, delaying innovation and time-to-market for new services,” he said.

The deal also positions Axon to capitalise on growing operator interest in fixed wireless access and low earth orbit satellite connectivity.

As those technologies gain traction in access networks, the company argues end-to-end orchestration from the mobile core to in-home devices will become increasingly critical for delivering a consistent subscriber experience.

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