ZTE Corporation hosted the AIR DNA Future Network Launch Event at MWC Barcelona 2025, in which the company unveiled its new AI-driven end-to-end network solution—AIR DNA.
Centered around AI as its core engine, the new solution reconstructs the genetic and architectural foundations of mobile networks, redefines the intelligent future of network infrastructure, and marks the beginning of a new chapter in intelligently connecting all things, according to ZTE.
Zhang Wanchun, senior vice president of ZTE, stated that the AIR Solution encompasses three key components: a full-stack AI foundation, the reconstruction of an end-to-end intelligent network and value redefinition driven by the new network. The full-stack AI foundation includes open infrastructure, a full-lifecycle training and inference platform as well as a comprehensive series of Nebula large models tailored for various application scenarios.
According to Zhang Wanchun, the intelligent network features a transition from dedicated to heterogeneous AIR RAN, from cloud-native to AI-native AIR Core, and from assisted to autonomous intelligence in AIR Net. The end-to-end network upgrade will continuously reshape mobile experiences, business ecosystems, and service paradigms, fully empowering the advancement of mobile AI. By comprehensively enhancing mobile experiences and driving profound transformations in business ecosystems and service paradigms, the AIR Solution will inject strong momentum into global intelligent transformation, helping to usher in a new chapter of a human-machine symbiotic intelligent future, said ZTE.
During the presentation, Li Xiaotong, vice president of ZTE, emphasized the company’s active role in promoting the deep integration of AI and RAN, and highlighted efforts in converging communication, computing and intelligence.
ZTE also noted it is exploring bidirectional empowerment of AI and RAN. Regarding AI for RAN, ZTE has been reshaping wireless sites and network O&M systems using AI. Wireless sites now feature “All-in-one Radio, integrated communication, computing, and intelligence in the baseband, and full digital management of infrastructure”.
Meanwhile, the network O&M system, empowered by digital twins and large models, is driving networks toward higher autonomy, according to ZTE. The company noted that these advancements enhance user experience and network efficiency while reducing O&M costs. Regarding RAN for AI, beyond connectivity, RAN now offers on-demand computing power and comprehensive data for AI applications, facilitating the widespread availability of AI. In addition, ZTE released the “ZTE AIR RAN Solution White Paper”, which provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities in AI and RAN integration.
Chen Xinyu, vice president of ZTE, delivered a keynote speech titled “AIR Core, Evolving from Cloud Native to AI Native”. He pointed out that the core network, as the brain of the network, always stands at the forefront of embracing the latest technologies. In the cloud era, cloud-native architecture has empowered elastic, agile, and automated networks. After entering the AI era, the core network will continue to evolve, upgrading from Cloud Native to AI native. The new AIR core will fully advance towards intelligence, driving intent-driven, agentic and autonomous network transformation.
The executive explained that like a DNA helix, the core and AI are integrating and empowering each other. On one hand, AI for Core, the core network leverages diversified AI capabilities, realizing service intelligence for ultimate user experience, connectivity intelligence for generating new revenue stream and O&M intelligence for high-resilience network. On the other hand, Core for AI, by utilizing the Core computing and network capabilities, provides fundamental pillars for AI, including ubiquitous computing power, out-of-box model and high-efficiency network.
At the conference, Chen Xinyu also announced the release of the ZTE AIR Core Technology System white paper, which analyzes the challenges and opportunities of the current core network development and proposes AIR core to achieve service innovation, reduce costs, and improve efficiency in the mobile AI era.
Zheng Peng, vice president and general manager of Service and Data Intelligence Products at ZTE, delivered a keynote speech entitled “AIR Net, Value-Driven AI Innovation Enables High-Level Autonomous Networks”, in which he stated that ZTE is committed to exploring its potential across digital transformation research, helping telcos fully integrate AI into their operations and transitioning from legacy work styles to “Agentic Operation”.
ZTE has upgraded its high-level autonomous networks solution AIR Net (namely AI-Reshaped Network) to focus on the intelligent transformation and capability enhancement of infrastructure, single-domain network operations and cross-domain service operations. This solution is built on a self-developed intelligence technology platform, which includes three major engines: the data engine, the large model engine and the digital twin engine, to provide Copilot assistants and Agent experts, achieving end-to-end closed-loop management.
