In a groundbreaking collaboration, Cisco, alongside NVIDIA and key telecom partners, unveiled the industry’s first AI-native wireless stack for 6G on October 28, 2025. This innovation, part of the AI-WIN project announced in March 2025, was developed in just six months and represents a leap toward intelligent, software-defined networks capable of handling billions of connections for emerging technologies like augmented reality glasses, autonomous vehicles, and robotics. By infusing AI throughout the mobile network—from radio access to core orchestration—the stack addresses surging demands for efficiency, security, and ultra-low latency in the AI era, setting the stage for a seamless transition from 5G Advanced to full 6G deployment.
The AI-WIN initiative embodies Cisco’s dual strategy of “AI for Wireless” and “Wireless for AI,” embedding artificial intelligence to enable networks that sense, learn, reason, and act in real-time. Partners include NVIDIA, Booz Allen, MITRE, the O-RAN Development Company (ODC), and T-Mobile, combining expertise in AI acceleration, networking, security, and mobile operations. Built on NVIDIA’s AI Aerial platform, the stack integrates Cisco’s 5G core software and distributed User Plane Function (dUPF) with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing, creating a fully AI-native mobile network stack that spans radio access, core mobility, orchestration, and security. This open and modular design supports the integration of new technologies, ensuring scalability for demanding AI services while optimizing bandwidth by processing data at the edge.
Key technical features highlight the stack’s sophistication. AI is embedded from the radio layer to the core, facilitating sensing, learning, and optimization. Edge inference enables instant decision-making with ultra-low latency, crucial for mission-critical applications. Multimodal sensing incorporates integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), computer vision, and environmental IoT inputs, allowing networks to adapt dynamically to real-world conditions. Cisco’s Agile Services Networking provides a high-performance fabric connecting core and edge elements, while the dUPF ensures secure, resilient performance at the network periphery. The stack also supports three live pre-6G applications demonstrated at NVIDIA’s GTC DC event, showcasing unmatched efficiency and pre-6G capabilities like integrated sensing for physical AI.
For telecom providers, the benefits are transformative. The stack empowers a network transition path starting with 5G Advanced services, laying groundwork for 6G to manage explosive growth in uplink traffic, inferencing workloads, and edge capacity needs. It enables distributed AI services, keeping traffic local to reduce latency and costs, while fostering new revenue streams through agentic and physical AI applications—where endpoints like robots and sensors interact intelligently with the physical world. Security and observability are prioritized, with Cisco’s AI Defense integrating NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails to protect AI infrastructure without compromising performance. This addresses industry challenges amid AI’s shift to connected devices, defining AI-ready data centers that overcome power, computing, and network constraints.
Beyond the wireless stack, the announcement includes complementary innovations. Cisco introduced the N9100 series switches, the first NVIDIA partner-developed data center switch based on Spectrum-X Ethernet silicon, offering flexibility with NX-OS or SONiC operating systems for neocloud and sovereign cloud environments. The Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA, first unveiled in March 2025, has been enhanced with security features like AI PODs powered by Silicon One and Nexus switching, observability integrations with Splunk, and ecosystem expansions including NVIDIA Run:ai and Nutanix Kubernetes Platform. These tools enable enterprises, service providers, and telecoms to build, manage, and secure AI infrastructure at scale, with government-aligned designs for sensitive applications.
The broader implications signal a paradigm shift in connectivity. As 6G promises to support billions of intelligent devices, this AI-RAN stack—America’s first—positions the US as a leader in intelligent connectivity, accelerating the race to 6G while enhancing competitiveness in telecom and beyond. It not only optimizes existing networks but also unlocks potential for physical AI embodiment in machines, fostering innovation in industries like manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare.
In conclusion, Cisco’s AI-native wireless stack marks a pivotal advancement, bridging current 5G limitations to a future of ubiquitous, intelligent networks. By collaborating with NVIDIA and partners, Cisco is not just preparing for 6G—it’s redefining how AI and wireless converge to power the next digital revolution.
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