It was inevitable that this year at MWC in Barcelona, at least one carrier would announce a major effort at building a smartphone with a top AI company.

Deutsche Telekom is building a new Perplexity chatbot-powered “AI Phone,” the companies announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona today. The new device will be revealed later this year and run “Magenta AI,

Artificial intelligence is the emphasis of Mobile World Congress this year, and T-Mobile’s parent company is making an AI concept from last year’s show a reality in 2025. On Monday, Deutsche Telekom formally announced its AI Phone, which ditches traditional apps and interaction in favor of voice commands powered by Perplexity Assistant.

It was inevitable that this year at MWC in Barcelona, at least one carrier would announce a major effort at building a smartphone with a major AI company. And here it is: T-Mobile, the mobile telco owned by Deutsche Telekom,

Claudia Nemat, Board Member for Technology and Innovation, presented the AI Phone with the digital assistant from Perplexity. Image: Deutsche Telekom eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent.