{"id":26319,"date":"2026-11-10T08:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/?p=26319"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:25:27","slug":"new-ai-challenges-launch-to-advance-network-automation-and-standards-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/new-ai-challenges-launch-to-advance-network-automation-and-standards-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"New AI Challenges Launch to Advance Network Automation and Standards Knowledge\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>GSMA, ETSI, IEEE and ITU invite innovators to develop AI systems that solve radio network engineering problems and deliver reliable answers grounded in telecoms standards<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>10 November 2026, Doha:<\/strong> The GSMA&#8217;s Open Telco AI initiative has announced two competitions inviting telecom operators, AI researchers, developers and startups to advance the capabilities of AI for telecommunications. Developed in collaboration with GSMA, ETSI, IEEE, ITU and Huawei, the <a href=\"https:\/\/zindi.world\/competitions\/telcoretrieve-challenge-unlocking-telco-knowledge\">TelcoRetrieve<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/zindi.world\/competitions\/ai-agents-for-ran-challenge\">AI Agents for RAN<\/a> Challenges address two important industry needs: enabling AI agents to solve complex network engineering problems and improving the accuracy of AI systems working with technical standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GMSA-led TelcoRetrieve Challenge focuses on improving how AI systems find and use information from technical specifications, white papers and industrial reports. These documents span organisations including 3GPP, CAMARA, ETSI, GSMA, ITU, O-RAN and TM Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finding an accurate answer and tracing it to the relevant source remains a demanding task for engineers. TelcoRetrieve addresses this through an open, vendor-neutral retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipeline that connects AI-generated answers to 3GPP-specific source documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participants will develop their approaches using the provided document collections, question sets and resources. The aim is to make telecom standards easier to access and use, helping operators to save time, reduce errors and bring new products and services to market faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To help innovators engage with the <a href=\"https:\/\/aiforgood.itu.int\/event\/telcoretrieve-challenge-grounding-large-language-models-llms-in-telecom-standards\/\">TelcoRetrieve Challenge, GSMA, ETSI, Huawei and IEEE are planning a dedicated webinar for 13 November<\/a>. The one-hour session will feature expert presentations followed by a live Q&amp;A, helping innovators prepare to take part and compete for a \u20ac25,000 prize pool and the opportunity to present their solutions at MWC27 Barcelona. AMD is providing the compute for the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AI Agents for RAN Challenge invites participants to build agents that reason, use tools and solve engineering tasks through Giulia, an open-source radio network simulator developed by Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Val\u00e8ncia (UPV). Tasks cover fault diagnosis, outage impact analysis, coverage and radio configuration, site placement and energy management. Agents must investigate network conditions, test possible interventions and account for how changes affect performance across the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aim is to advance the AI capabilities needed for more autonomous radio network operations, helping operators improve service reliability, reduce operating costs and deliver better customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahead of the challenge, GSMA, ITU and IEEE will host a <a href=\"https:\/\/aiforgood.itu.int\/event\/introducing-the-ai-agents-for-ran-challenge-from-diagnosis-to-optimization\/\">dedicated webinar on 18 November to introduce the AI Agents for RAN Challenge<\/a> and explain how participants will use the Giulia simulator to investigate network scenarios, test interventions and develop solutions. The session will also outline how entries will be evaluated, with participants competing for a \u20ac30,000 prize pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The judging criteria for the challenges will evaluate entrants for the accuracy, efficiency, reasoning capability and security considerations of their models. Together, the competitions aim to accelerate the development of reliable and efficient telecom AI through shared resources, practical engineering use cases and verifiable evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both competitions offer significant cash prizes, encouraging participation from across the global telecom and AI communities. The winners will be recognised at a dedicated awards ceremony at MWC27 Barcelona, bringing together industry leaders, researchers and innovators to celebrate advances in telecom AI and explore opportunities for collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">-ENDS-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About GSMA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, tackling today\u2019s biggest societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work, and providing the world\u2019s largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We invite you to find out more at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gsma.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About<\/strong> <strong>IEEE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IEEE is the world\u2019s largest technical professional organization and is a public charity dedicated to advancing technology for the bene\ufb01t of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is a trusted voice across fields ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ieee.org\/homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.ieee.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br \/><strong>About<\/strong> <strong>ETSI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ETSI is one of only three bodies officially recognised by the European Union as a European Standards Organisation (ESO). It is an independent, not-for-profit body dedicated to ICT standardisation. With over 900 member organisations from more than 60 countries across five continents, ETSI offers an open and inclusive environment for members representing industry, research institutions, academia, governments, and public bodies. ETSI supports the timely development, ratification, and testing of globally applicable standards for ICT-enabled systems, applications, and services across all sectors. ETSI is the co-founding partner of 3GPP, the global partnership project which standardises all generations of mobile technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About ITU<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations agency for digital technologies, driving innovation for people and the planet with 194 Member States and a membership of over 1,000 companies, universities, civil society, and international and regional organizations. Established in 1865, ITU coordinates the global use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits, establishes international technology standards, drives universal connectivity and digital services, and is helping to make sure everyone benefits from sustainable digital transformation, including the most remote communities. From artificial intelligence (AI) to quantum, from satellites and submarine cables to advanced mobile and wireless broadband networks, ITU is committed to connecting the world and beyond. Learn more:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/\">www.itu.int<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp; \u200b\u200b\u200b<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Media Contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GSMA Press Office<br \/><a href=\"mailto:pressoffice@gsma.com\">pressoffice@gsma.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ETSI Press Office<br \/><a href=\"mailto:Claire.boyer@etsi.org\">Claire.boyer@etsi.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IEEE GenAINet Press Office<br \/><a href=\"mailto:hongyang001@e.ntu.edu.sg\">hongyang001@e.ntu.edu.sg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ITU Press Office<br \/><a href=\"mailto:pressinfo@itu.int\">pressinfo@itu.int<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GSMA, ETSI, IEEE and ITU invite innovators to develop AI systems that solve radio network engineering problems and deliver reliable answers grounded in telecoms standards 10 November 2026, Doha: The GSMA&#8217;s Open Telco AI initiative has announced two competitions inviting telecom operators, AI researchers, developers and startups to advance the capabilities of AI for telecommunications. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":25053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[],"class_list":["post-26319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New AI Challenges Launch to Advance Network Automation and Standards Knowledge\u00a0 - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/new-ai-challenges-launch-to-advance-network-automation-and-standards-knowledge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New AI Challenges Launch to Advance Network Automation and Standards Knowledge\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GSMA, ETSI, IEEE and ITU invite innovators to develop AI systems that solve radio network engineering problems and deliver reliable answers grounded in telecoms standards 10 November 2026, Doha: The GSMA&#8217;s Open Telco AI initiative has announced two competitions inviting telecom operators, AI researchers, developers and startups to advance the capabilities of AI for telecommunications. 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