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OpenAI and MediaTek partner on AI smartphone
22 May 2026

OpenAI and MediaTek have teamed up to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smartphone.

The move is seen as a challenge to Qualcomm's dominance in the premium phone market.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the project could get massive attention due to ChatGPT's huge global user base, potentially attracting between 300 million and 500 million viewers at launch.

MediaTek's expertise in chip design to aid AI smartphone development
Fact

The development of true AI features in new smartphone will need advanced processors for fast and always-on tasks. This is where MediaTek's expertise comes into play. The company could also get access to real-world data, which would help it design smarter chips for future devices.

Long-term impact on MediaTek's position in next-gen technology landscape
Long-term impact

While the partnership may not immediately boost MediaTek's stock price,

Kuo believes it will help the company become a key player in next-generation technology. It could even influence future standards like 6G.

The collaboration is also expected to have a long-term effect on MediaTek's smartphone business, AI chip development, and future 6G positioning.

Redefining smartphone processors for the AI era
Design evolution

The rise of AI smartphones could also change the design priorities for smartphone processors in the future.

The devices will need chips that can handle continuous inference, memory updates, low-latency processing, and always-on sensing.

The OpenAI partnership could help MediaTek gather real-world data to design future AI-centric system-on-chips for the upcoming smartphones.

Future 6G standards will be influenced by AI-native devices
Fact

Kuo also suggested that AI-native devices will play a major role in shaping future 6G standards, especially in persistent connectivity and cloud-device AI processing. He added that MediaTek could gain greater influence in future 6G standard-setting through experience gained from the OpenAI smartphone project.