At MWC 2026, 6G gets an AI makeover

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said 6G networks will be critical for AI workloads and connect AI agents and workloads.

Unlike 5G, which was viewed as a smartphone enabler and connectivity upgrade, 6G is being positioned as an enabler of AI-native networks.

In his MWC 2026 keynote, Amon said 6G networks will lead to a 50% to 70% performance gain in existing spectrum. That spectrum will be needed since global cellular traffic will grow 3x to 7x by 2034. "AI alone will account for 30% of all traffic," said Amon. "If you believe in the AI revolution, 6G will be required."

Qualcomm said it has more than 50 partners developing 6G with infrastructure, chips and devices by the end of 2028 for a 2029 launch.

For now, 6G is in the coalition stage, which includes Qualcomm and most cloud and network players. The design plan is to use 6G for wide-area sensing, high-performance compute and AI-based autonomy including robotics.

Intel argued that 6G will enable a network that's AI inference first and more outcome driven.

A few takeaways:

• 6G hype is just starting and the drumbeat will pick up.
• Unlike 5G, 6G may have more of a AI spin over consumer use cases.
• The smartphone will benefit, but ambient sensing and robotics are likely to be the things that capture attention.
• At this point, 6G-centric devices aren't here yet.
• Use cases are mostly theoretical since testing is more than a year away.