The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) met with wireless and computer networking experts this week to get a feel for how technology developers will apply artificial intelligence (AI) to coming 6G wireless networks now under development. Many foresee substantial changes coming to manufacturing, cybersecurity, agriculture, and several other fields.
NTIA is preparing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to provide support through its Innovation Fund for organizations developing technologies and use cases for AI-enhanced wireless networks. The project stems from a July 2025 executive order in which President Trump urged promoting American AI-based technology and exports.
“The United States must not only lead in developing general-purpose and frontier AI capabilities, but also ensure that American AI technologies, standards, and governance models are adopted worldwide to strengthen relationships with our allies and secure our continued technological dominance,” Trump said in the order.
“Ensuring the widespread adoption of a trusted 6G stack is foundational to achieving America’s vision of a free and decentralized internet, one built on secure, resilient and trusted architecture,” said Tricia Paoletta, NTIA’s newly appointed senior advisor for spectrum. Paoletta did not reveal how much money will be available through the NOFO, but said NTIA would convene another “listening session” with experts after its release.
Bob Everson, senior director of Mobile Architecture and Ecosystem for Cisco Systems, said now is the right time for a program to set priorities for AI and 6G. “We think one of the focuses of this is, how do we build out infrastructure and [make] commercially viable use cases and revenue for our operators in the process,” he said. Cisco’s clients, so far, do not have a clear view of the business case.
Historically, Cisco has taken an outside-looking-in perspective on network development, Everson said. First, determine what problems customers are trying to solve with new technology. For mobile network customers, it is likely to require significant changes in security and efficiency features at cell sites, for example.
“There are a lot of architectural changes… We need to get out and deploy these actually in real environments, put this together and drive that commercial success,” Everson said.
Hariharan Krishnan, a speaker from General Motors, painted a picture of future automated manufacturing facilities based on AI-based mapping.
“You can envision thousands of robots in a manufacturing floor, and they need accurate positioning capability… to create a dynamic map of that area, which is always changing. People are moving. Robots are moving. There’s lots of things that are happening,” Krishnan said. “We can use AI to do a lot of that.”
Developers expect internet of things (IoT) applications running over 6G to be a prominent part of precision agriculture. Session speakers often mentioned the need for the wireless and AI communities to collaborate closely to ensure that wireless connectivity reaches agricultural areas.
“We see AI wireless as a perfect application to deploy across all 900 million acres of U.S. farm and ranch land,” said George Woodword, CEO of Trilogy Networks, a North Dakota company seeking to apply new technology to farm solutions. “I’m hoping that NTIA includes that in the NOFO opportunity.”
