Verizon adds nine companies to 6G forum as AI-native network trials advance

Verizon is expanding its 6G Innovation Forum with nine technology companies, including AWS, NVIDIA, Intel, Cisco and Palo Alto Networks, as it works to build an open and diversified ecosystem for next-generation wireless networks, the company said Monday.

The forum, whose founding members include Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, Meta and Qualcomm Technologies, is focused on testing new spectrum and use cases while supporting the development of foundational 6G technologies and global standards.

Alongside the expansion, Verizon announced field trials exploring Integrated Sensing and Communication, or ISAC, which uses wireless networks to sense surrounding environments without dedicated cameras.

In a Samsung trial in Dallas, a 5G base station and AI systems analyzed wireless signals from smartphones to produce real-time crowd-density heatmaps, the company noted. A separate Qualcomm trial in San Diego used millimeter-wave spectrum to track a drone and moving vehicles while simultaneously maintaining high-speed 5G communications.

Verizon also showcased an AI Sports Companion designed to demonstrate how edge networks could support future smart glasses and other AI-enabled wearables.

Using Meta AI glasses, a local small language model, NVIDIA hardware and sports data, users could verbally request real-time statistics, score analysis and game-winning probabilities and receive answers through the glasses, the firm stated.