T-Mobile announces its network is now full of AI by rolling out real-time translation

This AI is so network native, the telco tells us, that it all works on existing hardware - no datacenters involved

T-Mobile is claiming it's now the first wireless carrier to integrate generative AI "directly into a wireless network," and it's rolling out real-time call translation as the first feature delivered on top of its new AI-filled cellular network. 

The self-described "Un-carrier" announced on Wednesday that beta signups were now available for live call translation powered not by an app or device-level capability, but AI that lives directly on the T-Mobile network. Eligible T-Mobile customers using a phone connected to 4G LTE or 5G - from flagship smartphones to bog-standard flip phones - can activate the feature by dialing * 87 *, with only one caller required to be on the carrier's network. Access is currently limited to customers admitted into the beta.

To add to the convenience factor, live translation only requires one person on a call to be a T-Mobile customer. The telco claims that it's "instantaneous," and works in more than 50 languages, from English to Chinese to Welsh to Azerbaijani. 

What, exactly, T-Mobile means by "network-native AI" is interesting, too. According to a spokesperson, calls are not being routed to datacenters for translation, there is no new edge hardware installed at cell towers, and all the AI processing happens as calls are transmitted.

"The breakthrough innovation here is that we have actually opened up our IMS network and directly infused an AI agent so that it works on the network," a T-Mobile spokesperson told us. "Think of this as a software update to the network, there were no hardware upgrades or changes needed." 

The spokesperson told us that there's no rerouting of calls or additional devices – just a purely on-network use of agentic AI. 

According to T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan, live translation is just the first AI-powered network-level feature the telco plans to introduce. 

"By bringing real-time AI directly into our network, we're delivering more than connectivity—turning conversations into community, starting with Live Translation," Gopalan said in the company's press release. T-Mobile didn't mention what features may be coming next, and declined to share any of them with The Register. 

It's a convenient bit of tech to be sure, but T-Mobile's cybersecurity record, along with invasive applications of AI across multiple industries, might raise some privacy hackles. 

While its recent history has been positive - T-Mobile touted the fact that it repelled an attacker attempting to break into its network right around the time other telcos were hit by Salt Typhoon - the company has a long rap sheet when it comes to cybersecurity failures. 

By our count, T-Mobile has suffered at least seven IT security breaches between 2018 and 2023 that exposed the personal information of millions of customers. In September 2024, the company agreed to pay $31.5 million to settle an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission into multiple breaches and to commit to improved cybersecurity practices.

With that in mind, letting a network-based AI listen in on conversations and provide real-time translation might seem like something of a privacy concern for T-Mobile customers. T-Mobile assured us that's not the case, telling us that it "adheres to all privacy regulations set by the FCC."  

"We do not save call recordings or transcripts," a T-Mobile spokesperson told us. "The service is designed to translate conversations in real time and then move on, without storing the content of those calls." 

T-Mobile also told us that it isn't training its AI models on customer data or call audio, and AI isn't listening in on calls that aren't being translated, either. ®