Mike Robuck
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Articles by Mike Robuck
Meta adds $40B to US data centre investment
Meta Platforms unveiled a plan to expand a data centre in the US state of Louisiana to 5GW of compute capacity, committing an additional $40 billion to the project. The expansion in Richland Parish, Louisiana builds on a data centre project which broke ground in December 2024 with an initial $10 billion investment. Bloomberg reported the total investment for the Hyperion data centre is expected to top $250 billion.
Feature: AT&T, Ericsson showcase drone detection
AT&T and Ericsson teamed to provision Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) over a 5G network to demonstrate live drone detection in authorised airspace outside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The demo builds on a drone detection proof of concept the companies first ran in February 2026.
BMW taps Verizon for US SA 5G connectivity
Verizon Business and BMW Group teamed on a collaboration which makes newly manufactured vehicles in the US the first to tap into the operator’s nationwide standalone (SA) 5G network for connected automobiles using its 5G core and 3GPP Release 16 industry standards. Under the arrangement, Verizon will provide 5G and LTE connectivity directly to BMW, Mini, and other BMW Group vehicles built for the US market, delivering telematics support for the automaker’s connected drive system.
Preview: Nova Future Summit brings tech leaders to Napa retreat
The GSMA traded a bustling exhibition hall for a retreat-like setting as it launches Nova Future Summit, a new invite-only gathering created with Wing Venture Capital which will bring roughly 500 senior leaders from tech, telecoms, investment and policy circles to Napa in the US state of California. The event marks a deliberate departure from its traditional conference format, Erich Hermanns, head of events for Asia and North America, said.
Meta Platforms debuts Muse Image AI model
Meta Platforms rolled out in-house imaging tool Muse Image across its Meta AI chatbot, as the company works to attract creators and advertisers while reducing its reliance third parties. It is the first AI image generation model built by Meta Superintelligence Labs following the launch of the company’s initial large language model in April.
Ericsson, AT&T, MediaTek complete North America LTM trial
Ericsson, AT&T and MediaTek completed what they claimed is the first North American in-field trial of low-latency Layer 1/Layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) on AT&T’s Ericsson-powered RAN. The North American trial follows the world’s first in-field joint demonstration of LTM, which Ericsson conducted with KDDI and MediaTek in Japan in February 2026.
EchoStar CEO Akhavan resigns as Ergen takes over Hughes
EchoStar disclosed in a regulatory filing Hamid Akhavan, who served as CEO of EchoStar Capital, and president and CEO of Hughes Satellite Systems, has resigned effective immediately from all positions with both companies. The move follows discussions with EchoStar’s board regarding a change in strategic direction. EchoStar chair and co-founder Charles Ergen will take over Akhavan’s responsibilities as principal executive officer of Hughes.
Anthropic inks $19B US data centre deal
Data centre developer TeraWulf signed a 20-year lease agreement with Anthropic which is expected to generate $19 billion in contracted revenue over the initial term. TeraWulf is to provide a purpose-built AI infrastructure campus at its Justified Data site in Hawesville, Kentucky, accommodating approximately 401MW of critical IT load. The campus is to be developed in phases, with initial capacity expected to be online in the second half of 2027 and full capability by early 2028.
AT&T, Everbridge offer critical event management
AT&T teamed with software company Everbridge to offer enterprise and public sector customers a critical event management platform to help detect threats, send mass notifications and orchestrate crisis response. The operator is making the Everbridge 360 product available to eligible customers in a bundle with its mobile connectivity.
Smart glasses maker Even Realities raises $150M
Even Realities, a Shenzhen-based smart glasses startup founded by former Apple engineers, reportedly raised $150 million in a pre-Series B round led by Meituan and returning backer Tencent. TechCrunch reported the round valued the three-year-old startup at $1 billion, positioning it as a rising challenger in the fast-growing smart glasses sector.
Broadcom, Apple extend custom chip partnership
Broadcom and Apple agreed to expand their longstanding partnership through 2031, suggesting a complete switch to the iPhone-maker’s own C-series chips may still be several years away. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing today (6 July), Broadcom will develop and supply a range of custom ASIC chips for use across multiple generations of Apple products.
Anthropic eyes Samsung for custom AI chip
Anthropic reportedly is in discussions with Samsung Electronics to serve as a manufacturing partner for a custom AI chip, although the talks remain at an early stage. The Information reported the two companies are still working out what the processor should do, how powerful it needs to be, and how it would integrate into a server.
Amazon Leo Launches 29 more birds ahead of debut
Amazon is on track to launch its broadband service later this year after a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket successfully deployed 29 Leo birds into low Earth orbit, bringing the constellation’s total to 396 as the company races to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The satellites lifted off yesterday (2 July) aboard ULA’s Atlas V rocket, marking the eighth Leo Atlas flight and ULA’s 14th mission for the programme overall.
Apple to debut 5 new iPhones by 2027
Apple reportedly aims to launch at least five new iPhone models between the second half of this year and the first half of 2027 while ramping up production of foldable devices, as it seeks to capture more market share amid an industry wide component supply shortage. Nikkei Asia also reported the company is telling suppliers to prepare to produce about 10 million foldable iPhones this year, up from an earlier forecast of 7 million to 8 million units.
Microsoft unveils $2.5B frontier AI unit
Microsoft revealed it is investing $2.5 billion into a new business division called Microsoft Frontier Company, aimed at helping enterprise clients implement and scale AI systems. Microsoft’s Frontier Company is deploying 6,000 engineers, consultants and industry specialists to work directly with customers on designing, launching and improving AI systems tied to measurable business outcomes.
Cohere secures US deal for drone 5G sensing tech
Cohere Technologies won a $28 million contract from the FutureG Office within the US Department of War (DoW) to develop a multi-waveform radio access network prototype designed to turn ordinary commercial cellular infrastructure into a covert surveillance system for detecting drones and other aerial threats.
SpaceX presented AI handset prototype during IPO roadshow
SpaceX reportedly developed a prototype handset-like device aimed at changing how people interact with AI, and showed it to investors and other stakeholders during a roadshow ahead of its since-completed IPO. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the device has a sleek design slimmer than an iPhone and would run on a proprietary operating system while integrating AI technology from Elon Musk’s xAI. Sources told the WSJ the device would use a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.
Dish files for Chapter 11 to speed debt repayment
EchoStar-owned Dish DBS and its Dish Wireless business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move tied to delays in closing the parent company’s $23 billion spectrum sale to AT&T. In a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas, Dish DBS stated the AT&T deal was not expected to close by the 1 July deadline for repaying $2 billion in senior secured notes.
Blue Origin targets New Glenn return to flight by year end
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp outlined a plan to rebuild its Florida launch pad with a new configuration as it works toward returning its New Glenn rocket to flight before the end of the year. Limp stated Blue Origin is not rebuilding the same pad used during a New Glenn hot-fire test 28 May after the rocket burst into flames.
FCC to vote on plan for 160MHz upper C-Band auction
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr (pictured) revealed the agency will vote on an order next month setting up an auction of 160MHz of spectrum in the upper C-Band covering 3.98-4.14GHz, with the sale slated for next year The rules will also harmonise terrestrial wireless operations across the entire C-Band, combining the new upper C-Band allocation with the lower C-Band freed up in 2020 to create a single contiguous 440MHz block spanning 3.70-4.14GHz. Congress requires...
AWS launches $1B engineering unit for AI
Amazon Web Services (AWS) created a dedicated forward deployed engineering (FDE) organisation designed to embed engineers directly inside customer teams to build and implement production AI systems, compressing timelines from months to days. Backed by a $1 billion investment, the model is built around three principles: it is agentic-first, uses compressed timelines and is structured so customers become self-sufficient once an engagement ends.
AWS launches $1B engineering unit for AI
Amazon Web Services (AWS) created a dedicated forward deployed engineering (FDE) organisation designed to embed engineers directly inside customer teams to build and implement production AI systems, compressing timelines from months to days. Backed by a $1 billion investment, the model is built around three principles: it is agentic-first, uses compressed timelines and is structured so customers become self-sufficient once an engagement ends.
Dell’Oro tips AI-RAN revenue to hit $35B by 2030
Dell’Oro Group forecast cumulative AI-RAN revenue would reach $35 billion in the five years to 2030, but cautioned the technology is unlikely to expand the overall RAN market. Stefan Pongratz, VP of RAN at Dell’Oro, stated the company’s market assessment and long-term AI-RAN position remains unchanged. He noted AI-RAN is already underway and would scale ahead of 6G.
Analysis: AWS-3 auction turned on EchoStar bidding strategy
Recon Analytics founder and analyst Roger Entner argued EchoStar did not bid to win spectrum in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) AWS-3 re-auction, but to push proceeds high enough to erase its own default-related liability, with Verizon and T-Mobile US effectively footing most of the bill. The numbers behind the AWS-3 re-auction tell different stories depending on which bidder you are looking at.
Comcast to split; spins off NBCUniversal and Sky
Comcast unveiled a plan to separate into two independent publicly traded companies, spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky from its core broadband and mobile business in a deal expected to close in approximately a year. The transaction will create a standalone Comcast focused on connectivity, alongside an independent NBCUniversal which will house the company’s media and entertainment assets, including Sky.
Google compute crunch limits Meta Gemini usage
Google reportedly capped how much Gemini AI capacity Meta Platforms can purchase, after the social media giant asked for more computing power than the tech giant was able to supply. The Financial Times (FT) reported Google told Meta in March it could not provide all the Gemini capacity it wanted, a restriction which remains in place. FT’s sources stated the move has disrupted some of Meta’s internal AI work.
OpenAI limits GPT-5.6 launch per US government request
OpenAI complied with a US government request by launching its latest GPT-5.6 series through a limited preview to a small group of trusted partners before a wider commercial rollout. The company introduced three models: GPT-5.6 Sol, positioned as its flagship and most capable system; Terra, described as a strong lower-cost option balancing efficiency and capability for everyday work; and Luna, its fastest and most cost-efficient model for high-volume use cases.
FCC reveals Verizon, T-Mobile among AWS-3 auction big winners
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released results from its AWS-3 spectrum sale, Auction 113, which showed Verizon as the dominant buyer by spend, with T-Mobile US and AT&T also picking up sizeable allocations while EchoStar and SpaceX took home only a handful of licences each. Verizon, bidding through subsidiary Cellco Partnership, secured 82 licences for $3.2 billion, by far the largest outlay of the auction.
AT&T underlines AI impact to emergency services
AT&T outlined how AI is poised to reshape the way emergency call centres operate as call takers and dispatchers face rising call volumes, in increasingly complex emergencies. Writing in a company blog, AT&T executive Matt Walsh, AVP of FirstNet and the mobile operator’s NextGen 9-1-1 products, stated public safety answering points (PSAPs) are under mounting pressure as emergencies grow more complicated and expectations for speed and accuracy climb.
FCC curbs barriers to broadband deployments
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed rules aimed at preventing state and local permit delays and fees it claims can slow the deployment of high-speed broadband infrastructure across the US. The agency stated its move is designed to create more consistent requirements for providers seeking access to public rights-of-way, arguing some local processes can hold up applications for months or years and add costs which discourage network investment.
Orange AI chief Jarrett heads to Anthropic
Orange chief AI officer Steve Jarrett is headed to Anthropic and will be based in Paris as part of the AI player’s expansion across Europe. Jarrett posted on LinkedIn yesterday (25 June) his job at Anthropic starts 25 August. He is initially tasked with helping the company to better adapt its products to the needs of the European and African market.
Amazon pumps additional $13B into India AI, cloud
Amazon revealed a plan to invest an additional $13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India by 2030, reiterating the company’s long-term commitment to the country. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (pictured, left) met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured, right) in New Delhi to reiterate his company’s long-term commitment to India, with the fresh investment earmarked to expand AWS data centre capacity.
Nokia brings autonomous network fabric to AWS
Nokia and Amazon Web Services (AWS) broadened their collaboration to deliver autonomous networks for the AI era, making it easier for operators to run their full operational stack in the cloud. The two companies will run Nokia’s Autonomous Network Fabric on AWS, giving service providers access to AI and cloud services needed to pursue Level 4 autonomy. Existing Nokia digital operations applications are already on the platform covering orchestration, assurance and unified inventory.
OpenAI partners with Broadcom on first custom chip
OpenAI revealed its first custom-built inference processor built in partnership with Broadcom, part of a move by the ChatGPT maker to gain an edge by designing hardware to better run its AI products. The new chip, dubbed Jalapeno, is designed specifically for the needs of OpenAI’s inference systems and is the first in a multi-generation compute platform the two companies are developing together.
Qualcomm inks $4B deal for software specialist Modular
Qualcomm struck a deal to acquire AI software company Modular for about $3.9 billion, in all stock-deal aimed at strengthening its software foundation for generative and agentic AI across data centre and edge environments. The deal will pair Qualcomm’s silicon expertise with Modular’s AI-native software platform, which is designed to run AI models efficiently across CPUs, GPUs, NPUs and custom ASICs without requiring separate rewrites for each type of accelerator.
Feature: How Verizon is crafting its network for the agentic AI era
Verizon’s road to Level 4 network autonomy was boosted by turning 33,000 employees into software developers earlier this year using Anthropic’s Claude model. Verizon CTO Yago Tenorio (pictured) told Mobile World Live (MWL) the company gave about 500 application developers on his team access to Claude Code in December 2025. “We started using it like there is no tomorrow,” he said. “In a few weeks we made everyone in technology proficient as software developers and then people started coding.
FCC wraps AWS-3 re-auction with $3.5B in bids
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) closed its AWS-3 re-auction with gross winning bids topping $3.5 billion, which marked the agency’s first spectrum auction after a four-year lapse in its auction activity. Bidding concluded for Auction 113 yesterday (23 June) after 72 rounds for the 200 licences across the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands. All the licences received bids. 17 qualified bidders participated in the auction, which commenced 2 June.
SpaceX inks computing deal with Reflection AI
SpaceX reportedly signed a significant computing power deal with Reflection AI, making the open-source startup the latest outside company to tap Elon Musk’s Colossus infrastructure. CNBC reported Reflection will get access to Nvidia’s GB300 chips, the company’s top-tier hardware for training and running advanced AI models, housed at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 facility in Memphis, Tennessee.
Groq lands $650M to aid shift from chips to AI Inference
Groq raised $650 million in funding as the company revamps itself from a chip startup into a data centre operator focused on AI inference. The round was led by growth-focused investment company Disruptive and hedge fund Infinitum, both of which already hold board seats at Groq. The funding follows a non-exclusive licensing agreement Groq struck with Nvidia in December 2025.
Nvidia rally telcos around AI agents at DTW Ignite
Nvidia and telecom partners including SoftBank and NTT Data plan to demonstrate a stack of data, models, simulation tools and secure runtimes at DTW Ignite 2026, aimed at helping telecom operators move from task-based automation to fully autonomous network operations.
Mavenir debuts agentic automation framework
Mavenir unveiled an Agentic Service Assurance Framework designed to automate complex network operations across multiple domains while allowing operators to retain existing infrastructure. The vendor stated the TM Forum-compliant, multi-agent system combines an intent orchestrator with a layered agentic ecosystem to help detect, diagnose, recommend and resolve network faults faster. Mavenir positioned the framework as a step toward higher operator productivity and autonomous network operations.
WhatsApp head Cathcart stepping down
Will Cathcart is leaving his role as head of WhatsApp after nearly seven years leading the messaging platform, a tenure which saw the app grow encrypted communication to more than 3 billion users worldwide. Meta Platforms has named Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech company CRED, as his successor. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the leadership change, calling Cathcart one of Meta’s most important and effective leaders.
Amazon hits water-positive target in India ahead of schedule
Amazon is now water positive in India, meaning the company now returns more water to communities than it uses across its direct operations, including corporate offices, data centres and fulfilment centres. The milestone arrives ahead of the company’s original 2027 target and marks a step towards its broader global water stewardship strategy. The achievement is noteworthy in a country facing acute water stress. India holds 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of its freshwater resources.
Analysis: Mavenir pitches AI tokens as a telco cash cow
Mavenir and Red Hat announced what they are calling an Integrated AI Platform, a joint offering designed to give mobile operators the infrastructure to sell services and capture revenue currently flowing to hyperscalers and frontier AI companies. After making the decision to pivot away from open RAN last year, the vendor has turned its focus to AI, which is evidenced in its partnership with Red Hat.
Trump touts Apple, Intel chip deal
US President Donald Trump (pictured) stated Apple has struck a deal with Intel to produce computer chips inside the US, a move which marked a significant moment in his administration’s push to reshore semiconductor manufacturing. “I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social today (18 June).
Tech bosses urge G7 to back US-led AI group
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis reportedly lobbied for a US-led coalition to shape global AI rules, as Anthropic remained locked in negotiations with the Trump administration over export controls on its newest models.
Deloitte teams with Google Cloud to open London AI Studio
Consulting company Deloitte is set to launch an AI Studio at its London campus in partnership with Google Cloud, a co-innovation hub designed to support the UK’s transition towards agentic AI. Opening in late July, the studio will serve clients across financial services, the public sector, retail, healthcare and life sciences, and technology, media and telecommunications. Deloitte is pitching the facility as a place where production-ready agentic solutions are built and delivered.
Alibaba Cloud expands agentic AI push to France
Alibaba Cloud launched a cloud region in France featuring two availability zones in Paris as part of a plan to launch a suite of enterprise-grade agentic AI services in European markets later this year. The move marks the Chinese giant’s third European hub following infrastructure builds in Germany and the UK. The fully operational region brings enterprise-grade cloud services to European customers spanning computing, storage, containerisation, networking, security, databases, and developer tools.
Verizon overhauls consumer plans
Verizon launched a sweeping overhaul of its consumer offerings, scrapping activation and upgrade fees alongside two new plans designed to cut through what the US operator described as years of industry complexity and friction. Verizon CEO Dan Schulman stated the industry has for too long burdened customers with complex plans and forced upgrades when announcing the new offerings and loyalty programme.
Threads hits 500M users as Meta rolls out new features
Meta Platforms’ Threads app has reached 500 million monthly active users, marking a significant milestone for the platform as it moves to deepen engagement through a suite of new community tools and personalised feed controls. The social media giant stated the growth has been driven largely by communities, which are groups of users sharing interests spanning books, basketball, parenting, and music.
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