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 Aug. 5.
Are Enterprises Ready for AI?
After years tinkering, testing and piloting, enterprises think they’re finally ready to push AI into production at scale. But there’s one critical component that – left unaddressed – could sabotage their plans: the network. Read the Fierce Network story.
Microsoft Framework Aims to Cut AI Agent Training Costs
Microsoft Research released Orchard, an open source framework that aims to make it easier and more cost-effective to train autonomous AI agents. The release by the tech giant’s research division follows ongoing work since the vendor’s initial publication on this topic in March. Read the AI Business story.
AI Challenges Can Pull Telecom Down
Rocketing and outrageous valuations, incestuous funding models, sketchy business plans, deepening losses, technology claims so implausible they would have a reader of the wackiest science-fiction novel struggling to suspend disbelief. AI now has all the hallmarks of a monstrous bubble, including the denials of its evangelists that stocks are wildly overvalued. Sober comparisons with the dotcom bubble of 2000 have not dispelled the frothiness. See the Light Reading story.
DXC Promotes AI Platform Builders in Anthropic Cohort, Names President
DXC Technology has certified 86 engineers under the multi-year Anthropic alliance it announced in June, CEO Raul Fernandez said last week. That’s the first cohort against a commitment to train tens of thousands of Claude-certified forward-deployed engineers. Fernandez said DXC’s Consulting and Engineering Services business is “the single biggest beneficiary” of the partnership, and that the company has taken “an extremely conservative approach to modeling near zero” revenue for the current fiscal year. DXC also named Paul Taylor president and moved its three group leaders under him. Read the Channel Dive story.
Musk’s Mobile Network Targets U.S. Carriers
Elon Musk thinks SpaceX can build a better terrestrial mobile network than the big three U.S. carriers now that it has some spectrum. He also wants to build robot-run factories on the moon. Which is more likely to happen first is anyone's guess. SpaceX management sent the strongest signal yet that Starlink Mobile intends to compete directly with U.S. wireless carriers with a hybrid satellite-terrestrial network, speaking on the company's first earnings calls since its IPO in June. Read the Light Reading story.
Palo Alto: AI Broke the Patch Window — We Can Fix it
Palo Alto Networks said an agentic AI system built by its Unit 42 research arm found 14,090 previously unreported software vulnerabilities across 3,915 open-source projects in two months. To fight back, the vendor is now shipping firewall software designed for a world where that kind of thing is normal. Read the Fierce Network story.
Channel Players Join Linux Foundation Push to Standardize AI Costs
In a sweeping effort to establish AI cost standards, the Linux Foundation launched the vendor-neutral Tokenomics Foundation on Tuesday. Among the group’s 30 founding members are several major channel players, including Accenture, IBM, SAP, DoiT, WWT and SHI. Read the Channel Dive story.
STL Partners Forecasts Private Networking Market to Top $22B by 2030
STL Partners has raised its outlook, albeit slightly, for the private mobile networking market. The analyst firm now expects it to be worth $22 billion by 2030, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 58%, and an increase on last May's prediction of $21 billion by that same date. STL didn't proffer an explanation for the increase but the suggestion seems to be that applications are overtaking connectivity to become the driving force. Read the Telecoms story.
Cisco Urges Congress to Accelerate AI-Native Network Infrastructure
Cisco wants Congress to “accelerate the U.S. AI-native stack” to better support network firms facing unprecedented AI traffic demands. Bob Everson, chief architect for Cisco’s service provider mobility team, outlined a series of policy priorities during his testimony before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media. Read the SDxCentral story.