Nvidia and SoftBank pilot world’s first AI and 5G telecom network

TOKYO (Reuters) – Leading chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and SoftBank (TYO:9984) Corp, the telecommunications arm of SoftBank Group, have piloted the world’s first artificial intelligence and 5G telecoms network, the two companies said on Wednesday.

The network can run AI and 5G workloads concurrently, a process known as an artificial intelligence radio access network (AI-RAN), the companies said.

Applications for the network include autonomous vehicle remote support and robotics control.

Nvidia founder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang also said SoftBank was the first to receive its new Blackwell chip designs, which it is incorporating into the AI supercomputer it is developing to create its own generative AI model.