AMD’s new EPYC processor contains specific technologies vital to edge telco compute plans
AMD is helping telecom operators move from AI pilots to production deployments with the transition from traditional Radio Access Network (RAN) to open, virtualized architectures.
At the Mobile World Conference 2026 show AMD is showing end-to-end technologies that can carry AI projects into production, from enterprise AI software to leadership CPUs, GPUs, networking technologies and adaptive computing.
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“Success requires more than a model or a single layer of infrastructure: It takes an open ecosystem to develop telco-grade AI, software to operationalize it reliably, and efficient compute designed for distributed edge deployments,” the company said in a statement.
AMD is participating in Open Telco AI, a new global industry initiative led by the GSMA to accelerate the development, evaluation, and adoption of artificial intelligence systems specifically tailored for the telecommunications sector (“telco-grade AI”). Open Telco AI is a collaborative, open ecosystem for building, testing, and improving AI tools that truly understand and work with telecom data and workflows.
The idea is to address the limitations of general-purpose AI models like large language models when applied to telecom-specific tasks such as network operations, standards interpretation, and troubleshooting, according to the group.
As part of the collaboration, AT&T is contributing Open Telco models, AMD is providing compute, and TensorWave is offering hosting infrastructure. AMD Instinct GPUs are used to train the Open Telco AI models, creating telco-focused models that others in the ecosystem can reuse and extend. These GPUs run AMD’S ROCm software stack, an open platform for training and inference.
Another element of AMD’s involvement is the use of AMD’s Enterprise AI Suite, which is designed as the production layer. It connects open-source AI frameworks and generative AI models with an enterprise-ready platform tuned for AMD compute, particularly GPU-based infrastructure.
The suite integrates components for model serving, validated workflows, governance capabilities, and developer environments, all running on GPU clusters at scale. It’s built with a Kubernetes-native, container-based approach intended to fit into enterprise DevOps/MLOps practices while supporting security and multiteam governance.
AMD’s recently-announced EPYC 8005 server CPUs are designed for edge environments a telco will face at the edge. They are optimized for telco, with high compute density to support virtual RAN (vRAN) workloads and include compute-intensive Layer 1 processing. The processors offer support for wide thermal operating ranges, enabling OEMs to certify NEBS-compliant platforms for rugged and outdoor telco deployments, as well as small-form-factor systems.
In other AMD news at MWC, Samsung Electronics announced new breakthroughs with AMD across Samsung’s network portfolio, including 5G Core, virtualized RAN (vRAN) and private networks. The partnership with Samsung is similar to the one Nokia has within Nvidia.
At MWC 2026, Samsung demonstrated its AI-RAN breakthroughs by leveraging its AI-powered vRAN with AMD Epyc processors. Both companies plan to introduce the successful results of multi-cell testing conducted at Samsung’s R&D Lab, enabling scalable deployments and greater processor flexibility within software-based network environments.
Samsung has been shifting toward software-driven architectures designed to reduce hardware dependency and provide operators with greater choice and adaptability for some time now. At MWC, Samsung presented its Network in a Server (NIS), a fully virtualized next-generation, Edge-AI solution powered by AMD’s Epyc CPU.
This solution helps operators easily incorporate AI into their networks, reduce operational complexity and unlock new opportunities. At the show, Samsung demonstrated various AI on RAN use cases using NIS verified in real-world environments with a major Japanese operator.
More AMD news:
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- Next-generation HPE supercomputer offers a mix of Nvidia and AMD silicon
- AMD outlines ambitious plan for AI-driven data centers
- AMD to build two more supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Labs
- AMD/OpenAI pact means new enterprise IT options
- AMD could be Intel’s next foundry customer
