AI Topics Dominate This Year as Well
Global Telecom Leaders from Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, and Others Attend
Heads of SKT, KT, LG U+ to Collaborate Globally at MWC
On February 26, 2024, the Fira Gran Via exhibition center in Barcelona, Spain, was bustling with visitors on the opening day of the world’s largest mobile exhibition, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024. The upcoming MWC 2025, opening on March 3 in Barcelona, is anticipated to be a battleground for the latest AI technologies. This year’s MWC will see the assembly of industry leaders spanning both software and hardware, including global AI representatives like Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, and Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI, alongside Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang.
According to the GSM Association (GSMA), organizers of MWC, this year’s slogan is “Converge. Connect. Create.” The six sub-themes are “5G Inside,” “Connect X,” “AI+,” “Enterprise Re-invented,” “Game Changers,” and “Digital DNA.”
Following last year’s trend, AI topics will again be prominently featured at MWC. Last year, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind and famously known as the ‘father of AlphaGo,’ attended MWC and garnered significant attention. This year, Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, a notable AI model used by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, will deliver a keynote speech on fostering collaboration among enterprises. Perplexity began offering chatbot services in SK Telecom’s AI assistant ‘A. (A dot)’ through a partnership established last year.
Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI, is set to explain how Mistral AI garnered international attention, having attracted about 1.6 trillion KRW in cumulative investments by June of last year. Nvidia, Samsung, Salesforce, and Naver have all invested in Mistral AI. Peter Sarlin, founder of AI startup Silo AI and Vice President of AMD, will also attend MWC. Silo AI was acquired by AMD for $665 million (about 951.9 billion KRW) as part of AMD’s strategy to compete with Nvidia in the AI sector.
Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will outline the company’s focus on AI solutions and AI-based smart devices. Under Yang’s leadership, Lenovo has grown in enterprise value to 89 trillion KRW since he joined the company in 1989.
Global telecom CEOs will discuss digital transformation trends, including AI, at MWC. Keynote speakers include Timotheus Höttges of Deutsche Telekom, Mark Murtra of Telefónica, Christel Heydemann of Orange, and Margherita Della Valle of Vodafone, who will share insights on the challenges Europe faces in digital advancement.
CEOs from Korea’s top three telecom companies will also attend MWC 2025. Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, plans to demonstrate the services of their upcoming AI assistant ‘Aster’ and expand collaboration through the ‘Global Telco AI Alliance’ with Deutsche Telekom, SoftBank, and other companies. Kim Young-seop, CEO of KT, will discuss collaboration with Microsoft in the AX (AI transformation) solution area. Hong Bum-shik, CEO of LG Uplus, will participate in his first public event since his appointment, organizing a standalone booth focused on the synergy between LG Uplus’s AI assistant ‘Ixio’ and LG AI Research’s AI model ‘ExaOne.’
Minister Lim Sang-yim from the Ministry of Science and ICT and Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu of the Korea Communications Commission will also attend MWC 2025 as part of the government delegation. Minister Lim plans to arrange a meeting with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr from the second Donald Trump administration in the U.S.
Professor Kim Byung-joon of the Business Administration Department at Catholic University remarked, “With growth in the telecommunications market slowing, the industry is looking to AI for new vitality, which is why AI speakers are gaining attention at MWC 2025, despite it being a mobile exhibition.”