During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Deutsche Telekom (DT) unveiled an ambitious project: a smartphone where artificial intelligence is central to the user experience. Named "AI Phone," this device is developed in collaboration with Perplexity, known for its AI-boosted search engine, as well as Picsart and Google Cloud AI.
Claudia Nemat, head of tech and innovation at DT, stated, "We are becoming an artificial intelligence company." The operator aims not to create its own language models but to develop AI agents that simplify users' lives. The AI will be integrated throughout the device, particularly through Magenta AI, an assistant developed by DT, and will also be available as an app on Android and iOS for DT's 300 million customers.
Deutsche Telekom plans to showcase its AI Phone in the second half of 2024, with a launch scheduled for 2026 at a price under $1,000. Initially marketed in Europe, details about its design or operating system remain scarce. The challenge for DT and Perplexity will be to convince users that this new AI ecosystem is worth it, especially against established tools like Google Gemini and Apple Siri, requiring the AI Phone to offer something genuinely different.
