SoftBank Corp unveiled its Telco AI Cloud platform at MWC26 Barcelona on March 2, 2026, presenting an integrated architecture designed to transform telecom networks into AI-native infrastructures. The platform aims to evolve SoftBank from a traditional mobile network operator into a scalable artificial intelligence infrastructure provider.
Architecture and Infrastructure Design
Ryuji Wakikawa, VP and Head of SoftBank’s Research Institute of Advanced Technology, described the platform’s structure in a briefing at the event. The Telco AI Cloud integrates large data centres across Japan with distributed GPU resources deployed nationwide, including Aitras at the far edge and “regional brain” clusters with smaller GPUs per prefecture.
This architecture supports both AI model training and inference. Moreover, it addresses latency-sensitive applications by placing GPUs closer to users while maintaining large-scale centralised training capabilities in gigawatt data centres.
Telco AI Cloud Demonstrated with Ericsson
SoftBank partnered with Ericsson to demonstrate one use case of the platform. Using AI-on-RAN, the two companies showed how robots with limited onboard GPU capacity can offload heavier AI models to mobile edge GPUs while operating in complex environments such as shopping centres. The demonstration validated a low-latency, high-reliability AI-RAN architecture combining dynamic AI processing offloading with network slicing.
Enterprise Applications and Field Trials
For enterprise customers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and SoftBank conducted a field trial of an edge AI application using Aitras in an on-premises environment. SoftBank’s Aitras for Biz platform targets commercial enterprise use, specifically in factory settings. It leverages stable 5G connectivity and nearby GPUs to deploy AI applications at scale.
“This is a dedicated product for enterprise segment. We’re going to run multiple applications on here to showcase how powerful AI RAN is for enterprise use.”
Ryuji Wakikawa, VP and Head of Research Institute of Advanced Technology, SoftBank Corp
Open Source Release of Aitras Orchestrator
SoftBank also stated that its Aitras orchestrator is now available as open source. The company open-sourced the dynamic scoring framework (DSF) of the orchestrator under the Linux Foundation’s CNCF programme. This move enables RAN vendors and mobile network operators to implement AI-RAN orchestration more easily, accelerating commercial deployments and expanding the ecosystem through open-source collaboration.
Once GPUs are allocated for radio use, vendors including Ericsson and Nokia can deploy and manage radio units via the service management orchestrator (SMO) for improved radio resource management. SoftBank has additionally partnered with Nokia to enable execution of external AI workloads on AI-RAN, creating new revenue opportunities across communications infrastructure.
Interoperability Confirmed with Major Vendors
Ericsson and SoftBank confirmed at MWC26 that they achieved interworking between the Aitras orchestrator and an open RAN-compliant SMO. This confirmation establishes a foundation for multi-vendor support and broader commercial deployment of the platform.
“After I trust the orchestrator to give the resource to the vendor, the vendor can start deploying the radio on that resource through the SMO. This kind of interaction has already been confirmed with these two vendors.”
Ryuji Wakikawa, VP and Head of Research Institute of Advanced Technology, SoftBank Corp
The Telco AI Cloud platform positions SoftBank as a provider of distributed AI infrastructure for both enterprise and telecom markets, with open-source components intended to accelerate adoption across the industry.