NTIA offers $53M to accelerate American-led AI-native wireless networks

Federal backing for AI-native RAN signals a shift from purely modular 'Open RAN' toward an intelligent, software-defined edge. For the streaming ecosystem, this move accelerates the transition of the RAN into a high-performance compute platform, potentially reducing latency for high-bandwidth video delivery by running AI-driven optimization directly on baseband hardware. By forcing a move toward American-led interoperable standards, the NTIA aims to prevent vendor lock-in and foster a competitive market of third-party service providers. Watch for the fall 2026 rolling grant announcements as a signal of which U.S. technology stacks will lead the 6G development cycle.

The NTIA's latest funding round comes as the original $1.5 billion Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund faces significant budget shifts. Per Broadband Breakfast (July 2026), nearly $850 million of the fund's remaining capital was recently rescinded by Congress under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, leaving roughly $53 million for this specific AI-native focus. This pivot toward artificial intelligence aligns with the Trump Administration's broader July 2025 AI Action Plan and Executive Order on Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack, which emphasizes domestic leadership in software-driven infrastructure over legacy hardware dependencies.

While the government fosters innovation through grants, major carriers are already executing large-scale shifts toward these architectures. Per Light Reading (June 2026), AT&T is halfway through a five-year, $14 billion network upgrade with Ericsson to move 70% of its wireless traffic onto open-capable platforms by late 2026. This deployment successfully integrates third-party radios from 1Finity into Ericsson's cloud-based management systems, providing a commercial template for the interoperability the NTIA seeks to fund. Simultaneously, the AI-RAN Alliance—which includes Nokia, Samsung, and NVIDIA—has grown to over 70 members as of early 2026, focusing on running RAN workloads on General Purpose GPUs (GPGPUs).

However, some technical hurdles remain regarding the economic feasibility of using high-power GPUs for standard radio tasks. Per Comsoc (December 2025), certain industry leaders, including Verizon's CTO, have expressed skepticism about the immediate necessity of dedicated AI hardware like GPUs at every cell site, arguing that next-generation general-purpose processors may suffice for current 5G and early 6G demands. The NTIA's requirement that awardees provide data-driven business cases specifically addresses these concerns, pushing for empirical proof that AI-native architectures can deliver the promised operational savings and new service revenue.