6G and the rise of intelligent networks

6G has been described as the first AI-native network. This is a compelling phrase. But does it have any substance? At Mobile World Congress 2026, we learned the answer. NVIDIA, the world’s foremost AI chip company, announced a commitment - together with 11 telco giants  - to build “the world’s next generation of wireless networks on AI-native, open, secure and trustworthy platforms.”

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, explained: “AI is redefining computing and driving the largest infrastructure build-out in human history, and telecommunications is next. Together with industry leaders, NVIDIA is building AI-RAN to transform the world’s telecom networks into AI infrastructure everywhere.”

This raises the question: what will this transformation deliver?

The intelligent network

As with every previous ‘G’ upgrade, 6G will inevitably bring faster speeds. 6G could support data rates of up to 1 Terabit per second (1 Tbps). That’s roughly 50 to 100 times faster than 5G. It will bring latency down to under 0.1 milliseconds.

Despite this, 6G is expected to depart from the “speed upgrade” narrative of previous generational upgrades. Instead of just being faster, 6G will change the nature of connectivity – making it intelligent. Unlike 5G, where AI was added on top, 6G will embed machine learning into its core. The network won't just carry traffic - it will understand, predict, and optimise itself in real time, autonomously managing spectrum, routing and energy use without human intervention.

Equally as significant, the new 6G networks will be ‘sensory’. The unprecedented speed and latency – and the baked-in AI – will enable 6G infrastructure to see and perceive its physical environment. 6G networks will be able to track objects, map spaces and assess conditions. This has the potential to create a seamless bridge between the physical and digital worlds.

In short, while previous mobile generations asked: how fast can we move data? 6G asks: how can the network understand and serve the world around it?

6G makes sense

This idea of ‘sensory connectivity’ is one of the most ambitious concepts associated with 6G. So how can a network enable real physical experiences? 

It all comes back to the speed, latency and ubiquity of 6G connectivity. Let’s take a hypothetical use case: remote surgery. We might imagine a surgeon wearing a haptic glove to perform a procedure carried out by a robotic arm many miles away. 

Sending data related to touch, sound, sight and body-position takes an enormous amount of bandwidth. 6G's new radio frequencies can handle the payload. Then there’s ultra-low latency, which means there’s no functional delay between the surgeon and the robot hand.

The two-way ‘radar’ effect of 6G is also critical. 6G antennas will be able to scan the space around them to detect where a person is, how they are moving and what's nearby – with pinpoint accuracy. Meanwhile built-in AI systems will correct errors and adjust the signal so it feels natural to the participants.

Insiders believe 6G’s sensory capability could support a range of compelling new use cases in areas such as:

Workplace collaboration
Colleagues could work on collaborative physical tasks from remote locations.

Entertainment 
Fans could get the full sensory experience of a live event.

Manufacturing and industry 
Technicians could use robots to operate dangerous or inaccessible machinery.

Accessibility 
Sensory connectivity might offer new experiences to people with mobility limitations.

Retail and commerce 
Consumers might be able to feel the texture, weight and quality of products before buying them online.

Trust is at stake

Ultra-fast, AI-native sensory connectivity will undoubtedly deliver amazing new services. But this fundamental shift in network architecture will also make trust a huge challenge. In short, 6G networks will create a vast and fragmented attack surface where every edge node, cloud server and virtualised network function becomes a potential entry point for hackers.

In this context, a major risk comes from Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which will give developers access to core network features. If these APIs are misconfigured or insecure, they might become gateways for unauthorised access to sensitive data and critical infrastructure. 

And what about the AI systems so important to 6G infrastructure? Malicious actors have plenty of incentive to manipulate the data used to train or prompt AI models. And thanks to the rapid advances in generative AI, it’s becoming easier for hackers to find ‘holes’ in security systems. 

This threat was made clear in April when Anthropic cancelled the launch of its Claude Mythos model. It believed Mythos could identify and exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities faster than companies could repair them. “The fallout – for economies, public safety, and national security – could be severe,” Anthropic said on its website.

The company later created an initiative to test Mythos’s threat capabilities with selected companies. Project Glasswing's launch partners include Amazon, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Apple and others. 

Finally, in a network with trillions of connected entities, there’s an identity and authentication challenge: how to verify every device or user in real-time? This represents another opportunity for attackers to spoof the identities of ‘trusted’ devices in order to bypass security controls.

These threats make traditional "perimeter-based" security – which assumes that everything inside the network is safe – no longer viable. Instead, the industry is expected to embrace security-by-design and Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA.)

Security-by-design builds protection into every stage of 6G’s development -from hardware components to software protocols. So if one component fails, the network can isolate and fix it. Meanwhile, ZTA embeds a ‘never trust, always verify’ approach to security. There’s no implicit trust of a device just because it has gained entry to the network. Instead, ZTA validates every single access request or data transaction. It also grants a device the minimum permissions necessary to perform its task. 

There is far more to 6G network security than this, but these broad principles create a trust foundation that is far better suited for 6G’s massive scale and complexity than older models.

The energy question

Over the last decade, the mobile industry has been working to reduce its energy consumption. This is thanks to factors such as environmental regulations, operational costs and its own sustainability initiatives.

6G raises the stakes again. The expected increase in network performance and device density – and the reliance on AI infrastructure – looks set to boost energy demand. So how can telcos build the new infrastructure and still meet their sustainability targets? 

The difference this time round is that telcos are building 6G with energy-saving factored in. As a paper by Samsung engineers said: “Energy efficiency is not treated as a supplementary feature but as a foundational design objective.” 

Insiders believe that the intelligence embedded into 6G will help. It will maximise network efficiency – especially in relation to the radio access network (RAN), which can account for 80 percent of energy consumption. According to Nokia “machine learning, analytics and digital twin technologies are being used to automate power savings, optimise site activation and facilitate predictive maintenance.”

The new era of intelligent connectivity is coming – but it requires trust

When 6G arrives in 2030, it will bring more than just faster hi-def movie streaming. It will start an era of digital intelligence in which AI-powered connectivity is embedded into previously passive objects. 

6G will give networks the ability to sense. 

This sensory digital fabric will support a range of transformative new use cases relating to robotics, digital twins, smart cities, healthcare and more. But there will be obstacles. Regrettably more connections equal more opportunities for attackers. 6G’s architects know they must find ways to build trust, as well as intelligence, into the networks of the 2030s.

The road to 6G: key milestones

2023 – Standards body 3GPP announces a commitment to develop 6G specifications

2024 – Work starts the first 6G standard in 3GPP Release 19. China launches the world's first 6G satellite.

2025 – The Technical Specification Group (TSG) of 3GPP commissions detailed studies on 6G radio access network (RAN) and system architecture.

2026 - 3GPP will decide the timeline for Release 21 by June.

2027 – Full 6G specification work scheduled to start from March. 

2028 – The first 6G technical specifications to be defined in Release 21.

2030 – First 6G commercial networks launched.