The content team at Channel Partners tracks stories of interest to the technology advisor and wider channel communities. Anyone selling communication and connectivity solutions will want to stay abreast of these developing stories or catch up on ones they have missed. All links are valid as of July 22.
Hugging Face OpenAI hack: Rogue Agent Escaped, Hacked Everything in its Path
On Tuesday, OpenAI published a blog post with a fairly unassuming name: "OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation." Once you dig in, it reads like a cyberpunk novel in which OpenAI created an advanced AI hacker agent and put it in an isolated environment for testing. The AI agent then autonomously hacked its way out of OpenAI's isolated environment and then hacked Hugging Face, an open-source repository of AI-related projects, to find a solution to an advanced test designed to evaluate an AI's hacking abilities. Read the Mashable story.
Foundation Launched to Standardize AI Payments
The Linux Foundation has confirmed the official operational launch of the x402 Foundation, an open governance body created to help standardize internet-native payments for AI agents and applications. The x402 Foundation consists of 40 members and will provide stewardship for the x402 protocol, the universal standard that embeds secure payments into web interactions. Members include Google, Microsoft, Visa and Mastercard. Read the AI Business story.
Anthropic in Early Talks with Meta to Acquire Compute Power
Anthropic is in preliminary talks to lease artificial intelligence computing power from Meta, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC’s Kate Rooney. The New York Times reported potential deal was being discussed worth about $10 billion. The talks come weeks after Anthropic announced a similar deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to use the computing capacity at its Colossus 1 data center to improve capacity for paid subscribers. Read the CNBC story.
Lumen Clarifies Product Cuts
Although Lumen Technologies took a big step toward clarifying recent changes in its product line and channel compensation, partners demanded additional details. Lumen directed partners to its portal for a list of product SKUs that would no longer be eligible for sales starting in August, in a July 1 email to its channel community. The move marked a strategic retreat from a sizeable voice portfolio, which includes its SIP, Voice Complete offerings and services for Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Starting Aug. 1, partners cannot sell or renew Lumen voice offerings, which will move to month-to-month agreements when contracts expire. Read the Channel Dive story.
Is Spectrum SpaceX's Ticket to an MVNO Deal?
Speculation about SpaceX's grander plans for Starlink – and whether the service will become a global, hybrid provider of both satellite and terrestrial connectivity – continues to swirl. There are questions as to whether the company will even attempt to blaze that path, and more still about the route it would take to get there, particularly in the US. Light Reading looks at a report that explores those scenarios.
AT&T beats Q2 expectations with 432K phone net adds
AT&T added 432,000 postpaid phone customers in the second quarter of 2026, beating consensus analyst estimates of 341,000. Shares in AT&T were trading up almost 3% this morning, to $22.92. AT&T CEO John Stankey reiterated his position that striking an MVNO deal with SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile would not be in his company’s best interest. He said AT&T’s existing technology and distribution is enough to match what customers need. AT&T is able to serve 98+% of traffic through its converged fiber and wireless offerings, but for those “corner cases,” or 2% of the time they can’t get online, the satellite direct-to-device joint venture with Verizon and T-Mobile and its deal with AST SpaceMobile will address that. Read the Fierce Network story.
US Boosts AI-RAN with $53B Funding Opportunity
AI radio access networks (AI-RAN) got a $53 million boost in the U.S. courtesy of the Department of Commerce. Known as Solutions for AI‑Native RAN, the funding opportunity comes as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is looking to “accelerate the development, testing, and commercialization of secure” AI-RAN architecture. Read the SDxCentral story.
Light Reading’s Leading Lights Awards Finalists
Light Reading announced the shortlist for the 2026 Leading Lights Awards. This program recognizes the innovation and market achievements of the ever-evolving global communications industry. Top global operators named as either finalists or co-nominees this year included China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile, BT Group, KT, SK Telecom, Singtel, stc, e&, Telstra and Telenor. Read the Light Reading story.
TD Synnex CEO Bullish on Hardware as Token Costs Rise
As AI adoption reshapes partner ecosystems, the channel’s largest distributor is anticipating an industrywide pivot to hardware. TD Synnex reported more than $62.5 billion in revenue in its 2025 fiscal year, ended Nov. 30. Now, as AI vendors shift from subscription services to per-token billing, TD Synnex CEO Patrick Zammit senses a shift to on-premises infrastructure. Read the Channel Dive story.
GTIA Research: AI Adoption without AI Governance Creates Huge Challenge and Opportunity for ITSPs
A research report from the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA), AI Adoption in the Channel: What ITSPs Are Actually Doing, What's Working, and Where to Start, takes a deep dive into some of the real-world experiences IT service providers, vendors and distributors are navigating as artificial intelligence moves from early experimentation to business transformation. The report offers practical guidance tailored to different levels of AI readiness, including self-assessment tools, implementation recommendations and lessons from real-world channel experiences. Read the GTIA press release.