Deutsche Telekom targets ‘AI phone’ launch in 2026

News “We are becoming an AI company,” said Deutsche Telekom board member Claudia Nemat, speaking on stage at MWC If Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has had a theme this year, it’s been mobile operators trying to cram AI into every facet of their operations. Only Deutsche Telekom, however, seems to be pushing that ethos directly down the value chain into hardware creation, revealing plans for their own ‘AI phone’ in partnership with US AI startup Perplexity. A Silicon Valley GenAI company, Perplexity has seen rapid growth over the past year, soaring to a valuation of over $9 billion. With Perplexity’s AI fully “baked in” to new AI phone, customers will be able to leverage AI across their entire mobile experience, even accessing the AI assistant from the phone’s lock screen. “The trusted AI companion, our AI Phone, will help you in many situations: find reliable answers with reference to the source. Conveniently book a restaurant or taxi. Let an AI assistant do your shopping. All without having to switch between apps. Intuitively and preferably by voice. This is the future of AI innovation for consumers,” said Nemat. “The days of the confusing app jungle are over.” Specific details about the phone’s capabilities were not revealed but are expected to be formally announced in the second half of this year. Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart are also partners in the phone’s development. Commercial launch for the AI phone is targeted at next year in Europe and will come with a price tag of less than $1,000. In addition to this AI phone, Deutsche Telekom is already working on its own AI assistant app called ‘Magenta AI’, which will be available for download for any of the company’s subscribers. “We are becoming an AI company,” explained Nemat in a press conference, telling the audience that the company was not focussed on developing its own large language models but rather leveraging partners to create AI experiences and assistants. Keep up to date with the latest telecoms news by subscribing to our newsletter! Also in the news: Huawei ICT Services & Software Enable Digital Intelligence Acceleration AllPoints Fibre Networks and Daisy Communications announce fibre deal SMBs’ cybersecurity woes could be opportunity for telcos