Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity Collaborate on New 'AI Phone' with Advanced AI Assistant

Deutsche Telekom Unveils AI Phone with Perplexity Assistant: MWC25

MeinMagenta app will offer select AI services for non-AI Phone users. Deutsche Telekom is bringing AI-powered convenience to customers as the company announced its plans to introduce its "AI Phone", featuring the Perplexity assistant as its core intelligence, in the course of the year. Initially unveiled as a concept at MWC 2024, the AI Phone is now becoming a reality, offering AI-driven experiences without switching between apps, according to the German telecom operator's announcement on March 3. Also Read: Perplexity Launches Deep Research for AI-Powered Expert Analysis Perplexity AI and Deutsche Telekom are collaborating on the AI Phone. The device integrates the Perplexity assistant along with other AI applications, enabling users to access AI-powered features such as real-time translations, taxi bookings, restaurant reservations, email writing, text summarisation, and much more. Additionally, the company said AI services from Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart will be made available this summer. "On smartphones available at Deutsche Telekom, the digital assistant can be accessed directly from the lock screen or by double-tapping the power button. The AI Phone will be available in the course of the year," Deutsche Telekom said. Also Read: Telefonica's Wayra Invests in AI Startup Perplexity, Signs Commercial Agreement "Our real-world AI Phone and 'Magenta AI' bring together cutting-edge technology and everyday convenience. The trusted AI companion, our AI Phone, will help you in many situations: find reliable answers with reference to the source. Conveniently book a restaurant or taxi. Let an AI assistant do your shopping. All without having to switch between apps. Intuitively and preferably by voice. This is the future of AI innovation for consumers", says Claudia Nemat, Member of the Board of Management for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom. "The days of the confusing app jungle are over." "Deutsche Telekom is becoming an AI-first company," Nemat added on LinkedIn, emphasising that the company collaborates with partners such as Perplexity, Black Forest Labs, Picsart, and ElevenLabs in its AI initiatives. Also Read: Deutsche Telekom Turns Anonymised Network Data into Music with AI "Together with Perplexity, we created your personal assistant on our AI phone. As a trusted AI companion, it will help you in many situations: find reliable answers with reference to the source. Conveniently book a restaurant or taxi. Let an AI assistant do your shopping. All without having to switch between apps. Intuitively and preferably by voice," Nemat shared on LinkedIn. "At MWC Deutsche Telekom has shown several innovations that make AI-driven progress tangible. Like the AI phone... That has nothing to do with buzzwords but will bring AI applications like Perplexity or machine vision to customer. Their benefit: getting access to leading AI apps, that will improve daily life or learning in new ways through Gen AI podcasts for example," commented Leonard Dahmen, Head of Strategic Communication Management at Deutsche Telekom, Technology and Innovation, in response to a user's comment on the same LinkedIn post. Also Read: Deutsche Telekom Launches Magenta AI Powered by Perplexity For those not upgrading to the AI Phone, Deutsche Telekom will offer select AI services via the MeinMagenta app. Starting this summer, users can benefit from Google's Gemini Multimodal Live API for live translations, ElevenLabs for AI-generated podcasts, and Picsart for creative avatar generation, the company said. "We foresee a role for Deutsche Telekom in democratizing access to the best of Generative AI technology for our customers. This is our core vision for Magenta AI," said Jon Abrahamson, Chief Product and Digital Officer at Deutsche Telekom. "Magenta AI stands for amazing, useful, secure AI services. Once used, you will never give it back." The German operator said "Perplexity Assistant will become the main feature of Deutsche Telekom's new AI Phone in the course of the year. It processes language, text and images. Creates calendar entries, writes emails, makes summaries and translates content."

Perplexity Announces Upcoming 'AI Phone,' Whatever That Means

Perplexity is making a new phone with Deutsche Telekom, but the details of it, or what an 'AI Phone' even means, remains unclear. Mobile Worlds Conference has wrapped up in Barcelona, and this convention -- known for announcing ambitious products that will never come out -- lived up to expectations. There were smartphones with AI-powered mood displays on the back, laptops with solar panels, earbuds that double as a magnetic power bank, smartphones with attachable camera lens mounts, a Samsung alternative to the Nintendo Switch that folds in half, and Lenovo laptop whose screen can stretch up into an ultra tall display. Some companies were honest and said these were concept devices that would never come to market. Others made vague promises about future releases. But perhaps the vaguest announcement of them all came from the most overstretched company in AI, Perplexity. Perplexity started as an AI-powered search engine, which is what it's most famous for. Like other chatbots, it will answer your questions with generated replies fuelled by its training data. However, it uniquely adds links to support its points, letting you verify the claims you're reading and have the reassurance that its summary wasn't hallucinated. It's a helpful service, and Perplexity has only made this better with time. However, the company has also divided its attention in odd ways. Unsatisfied with a good AI search tool, they've also announced a new web browser, Comet, and -- oddly -- a $50 million venture fund to back early AI startups. It's strange to think that investors have given money to Perplexity, an AI company, so that they would build the future of AI, only for them to turn around and then invest that money in other companies, but alas. And, unsatisfied with just doing these, Perplexity has announced that they are partnering with German carrier Deutsche Telekom to build a new "AI Phone" with a new Perplexity-powered assistant app, Magenta AI. The phone will go on sale next year, starting at under $1000, and Deutsche Telekom previewed it with some confidence-eroding low-resolution renders available on their website. That's all the information we have on this phone though. Neither company has said whether the phone will run Android or a custom operating system; what hardware the company will use; whether this will start significantly below the $1,000 target or cost exactly $999; whether this will be available on any other carrier, or outside of Europe generally; or even what it means for something to be an "AI phone." Put simply, every new phone is an "AI phone." AI is everywhere. Google Photos has AI editing features. My search engine of choice, Kagi, has AI summaries. Spotify has AI-made recommendation lists. Google Assistant is now merged with their AI Gemini; and if you aren't happy with that, you can use any other assistant on your smartphone, be that ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, all of which have home screen widgets. I write about tech for a living, and I don't actually understand how an "AI phone" would be different from any other phone. The one possibility is that you don't use the phone like an ordinary one -- going through apps and typing requests -- and that everything will be controlled through Perplexity. If you want to search the web, book a flight, send someone money through your banking app, or send a selfie on Snapchat, you'll ask it to do so through a message or voice request, and it will control these apps for you. If that's what the phone is, I'm seriously unconvinced that customers would be interested in using it. But if it's anything less than that, why would you buy their phone over a "normal" phone from an established phone manufacturer? We'll find out when it releases next year; if it comes out, that is.

Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity announce new 'AI Phone' priced at under $1K | TechCrunch

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. And here it is: Deutsche Telekom (DT), said that it is building an "AI Phone," a low-cost handset created in close collaboration with Perplexity, along with Picsart and others, plus a new AI assistant app it's calling "Magenta AI." DT will unveil the device in the second half of this year, and it will start selling it in 2026 for a price tag of less than $1,000. Initially, it will be aimed at the European market, a spokesperson told TechCrunch. "We are becoming an AI company," Claudia Nemat, a DT board member who oversees tech and innovation at the telecom, said during a press conference Monday. It's not building foundational large language models, she was quick to add, "but we do the AI agents." Notably, Perplexity -- the startup out of Silicon Valley that is reportedly now valued at about $9 billion -- is being touted as playing a key role in the development of the phone. That is a signal of how the startup, best known today for its generative AI search engine, is taking steps to create more "proactive" products. "Perplexity is transitioning from just being an answer machine to an action machine," Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity's co-founder and CEO, said on stage at the event. "It is going to start doing things for you, not just answering questions. It's going to be able to book flights for you, book reservations for you, send emails for you, send messages, place phone calls for you, and all those sorts of things, like set smart reminders." Although this appears to be the first time that Perplexity has inked a deal with a carrier to develop an AI interface for a smartphone, it has a little experience in assistants already: Perplexity launched an Android assistant in January that seems like it could be a likely template for this new "AI Phone". The news is the latest development in a familiar story from the world of telecoms. For years, carriers -- both mobile and fixed -- have pined for ways to compete better with technology companies. Specifically, they have focused on the likes of Apple and Google, which have created operating systems and phones that largely cut telecom companies out of the equation when it comes to making money around apps, and "owning" that customer relationship. Over the years, we've seen partnerships with Mozilla to create a carrier-first phone to compete with these two. (The Firephone, as it was called, was not that hot after all.) And there were many cozy years with Facebook, as the social network too looked for stronger footing of its own in the mobile world. (Meta, as it's now called, is focusing its hardware and telecoms attentions elsewhere now.) Moving fast and breaking things is not a part of the telecoms wheelhouse. Perplexity and Deutsche Telekom have been working together since inking a partnership in April 2024. And DT first talked about an "AI Phone" a full year ago, at last year's Mobile World Congress event. Nemat did not get into many details of the hardware, like device specifications, nor did she give information on who is building it and what operating system it will run on (from the concept renderings, it looks like a flavor of Android). We contacted DT directly and a spokesperson said these details would be disclosed in the second half of the year. Nemat did note that the phone will have AI baked in, with the experience built by Perplexity "so that you can experience the full Monty," she added: "AI on your lock screen." Other services on the phone will include AI from Google Cloud, ElevenLabs, and Picsart, DT said. Magenta AI, which will be an app-based version of DT's AI assistant, will be available for those who want to install it on their own Android or iOS devices -- as long as you are already one of DT's 300 million customers, Nemat said. Leaning into the current vogue for all things AI -- a pervasive theme at MWC this year -- the AI Phone is DT's latest attempt to gain some stronger footing with consumers around an anchoring piece of hardware, alongside the app for when they simply cannot get users to buy their own device. For Perplexity, the company competes with the likes of not just the very-well-capitalised OpenAI and Anthropic when it comes to building new AI tools for consumers, but also big tech companies like Google, which has baked its Gemini AI into its basic search products. So moving into "action" services, in partnership with a telco, gives it a little point of differentiation, at least for now. Here, it seems that Perplexity is leaning into the next phase of how AI can improve user experience. "These are the kinds of things that, earlier, you would have to do in your own way, learning how to use these different apps," Srinivas said. "All these things are going to start becoming easier so that you can focus your time and energy on problem-solving.... This is really the next phase where AI [is] going to transition from being just reactive and having you input prompts into something that's just natively there on your phone, always listening to you and being able to [...] proactively assist you." It remains to be seen whether DT and Perplexity will be able to crack the notoriously tricky smartphone market, which is dominated by a small number of companies and has over the years seen even leviathans like LG cash in their chips and back away. It nevertheless points to just how magnetic the AI pull is right now, how even legacy companies see it as a possible panacea, and how even cutting-edge startups are looking for safe moats amid fierce competition.

T-Mobile and Perplexity announce new 'AI phone' priced at under $1K | TechCrunch

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. And here it is: T-Mobile, the mobile telco owned by Deutsche Telekom (DT), said that it is building an "AI Phone," a low-cost handset created in close collaboration with Perplexity, along with Picsart and others, plus a new AI assistant app it's calling "Magenta AI." T-Mobile said it will unveil the device in the second half of this year, and it will start selling it in 2026 for a price tag of less than $1,000. "We are becoming an AI company," Claudia Nemat, a DT board member who oversees tech and innovation at the telecom, said during a press conference Monday. It's not building foundational large language models, she was quick to add, "but we do the AI agents." Notably, Perplexity is playing a key role in the development of the phone -- a signal of how the startup, best known today for its generative AI search engine, is taking steps to create more "proactive" products. "Perplexity is transitioning from just being an answer machine to an action machine," Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity's co-founder and CEO, said on stage at the event. "It is going to start doing things for you, not just answering questions. It's going to be able to book flights for you, book reservations for you, send emails for you, send messages, place phone calls for you, and all those sort of things, like set smart reminders." Nemat did not get into many details of the hardware, like device specifications, nor did she give information on who is building it nor what operating system it will run on (from the picture here it looks like a flavor of Android). But she did note that the phone will have AI baked into how it, with the experience built by Perplexity "so that you can experience the full Monty," she added: "AI on your lock screen." Other services on the phone will include Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart, the company said. Magenta AI, which will be an app-based version of T-Mobile's AI assistant, will be available for those who want to install it on their own Android or iOS devices -- as long as you are already one of T-Mobile's 300 million customers, Nemat said. The news is the latest development in a familiar story from the world of telecoms. For years, carriers -- both mobile and fixed -- have pined for ways to compete better with technology companies. Specifically, they have focused on the likes of Apple and Google, which have been operating systems and phones that largely cut telecoms companies out of the equation when it comes to making money around apps, and "owning" that customer relationship. (And their ire is not only trained on those two. Deutsche Telekom has been in a long-running legal dispute with Meta in Germany over the prices that Meta pays to carry traffic over DT's network in the country.) Leaning into the current vogue for all things AI -- which is a pervasive theme at MWC this year -- this phone is DT's latest attempt to gain some stronger footing of its own. But moving fast is not really in the playbook here. Perplexity and Deutsche Telekom have been working together since inking a partnership in April 2024. And DT first talked about this AI Phone a full year ago, at last year's Mobile World Congress event. For Perplexity, the company has not just to compete with the likes of the very well-capitalised OpenAI and Anthropic when it comes to building new AI tools for consumers; but also big tech companies like Google, which has baked in its Gemini AI into its basic search experience. So here, it seems that Perplexity is leaning into the next phase of how AI can improve user experience. "These are the kinds of things that earlier you would have to do in your own way, learning how to use these different apps," Srinivas said. "All these things are going to start becoming easier so that you can focus your time and energy on problem solving.... This is really the next phase where AI are going to transition from being just reactive and having you input prompts into something that's just natively there on your phone, always listening to you and being able to be proactively assist you." It remains to be seen whether T-Mobile or Perplexity will be able to crack the notoriously tricky smartphone market, which is dominated by a small number of companies and has over the years even seen leviathans like LG cash in their chips and back away. It nevertheless points to just how magnetic the AI pull is right now, and how even the most legacy companies see it as a possible panacea. And how even the most cutting-edge startups are looking for safe moats amid fierce competition in their market.

T-Mobile's parent company is making an 'AI Phone' with Perplexity Assistant

Umar Shakir is a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge. 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," which gives users access to Perplexity Assistant, Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs, Picsart, and a suite of AI tools. The AI phone concept was first revealed at MWC 2024 by Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile's parent company) as an "app-less" device primarily controlled by voice that can do things like book flights and make restaurant reservations. The capabilities are like those promised by "large action model" products, including the Rabbit R1. In a press release, Deutsche Telekom board member Claudia Nemat says the forthcoming AI phone with Perplexity Assistant can book a taxi and do your shopping without having to switch apps on your phone. Some of the AI tools, including Perplexity's AI-powered search engine, will also be available on other devices using the MeinMagenta app (Perplexity also recently launched an Android app for its assistant). Deutsche Telekom hasn't said much else about the AI phone hardware, but the images show something of a budget to midrange Android device with thick forehead and chin bezels, as well as a pink sleep / wake button. Deutsche Telekom plans to launch its AI phone in the second half of this year. And this summer, the company will add some of the AI features from Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs, and Picsart into the MeinMagenta app, which works with other smartphones.

One Carrier Thinks You Might Want an 'AI Phone'

Summary It wi Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity are working on an 'AI Phone' with an AI assistant on lock screen. It will be priced at under $1,000 and is expected to arrive sometime in 2026. Deutsche Telekom, the German phone carrier and parent company of T-Mobile, has partnered with Perplexity to create an 'AI Phone' with AI assistant on the lock screen. It feels like a throwback to carrier bloatware. Deutsche Telekom revealed the AI Phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where we have also seen announcements like Lenovo's solar-powered laptop and a soccer-themed HMD feature phone. The company didn't reveal much about the screen, cameras, or other features -- just that artificial intelligence is the main attraction. Perplexity's assistant has been added right to the lock screen, providing one-tap access for questions. The company said in a press release, "the Perplexity Assistant, released earlier this year, will become the main feature of Deutsche Telekom's new AI Phone in the course of the year. It processes language, text and images. Creates calendar entries, writes emails, makes summaries and translates content. What's more, do you need a taxi? Initiate a call? Order food? Do some shopping? No problem. Perplexity's digital assistant makes it possible." Related 5 Cool Things You Can Do With the Perplexity AI Assistant on Android Perplexity AI makes these Android tasks effortless! Posts This sounds like the existing Perplexity Assistant on any Android device, which tries to "find answers to any question and take action on the needs you have throughout the day." It can already be set as the default virtual assistant on Android, but the AI Phone goes one step further with a button right on the lock screen. It is not clear if any AI processing happens on the device itself, but that seems unlikely if the feature is using the same cloud-based infrastructure as all other versions of Perplexity Assistant. We have seen carriers and device makers turn Android phone lock screens into billboards for unwanted ads and features in the past. Thankfully, this doesn't seem like an example of a low-cost device being subsidized by annoying bloatware -- a spokesperson told TechCrunch that the phone will be sold for less than $1,000. There are plenty of other great phones in that price range, so if you do not want the AI assistant on your lock screen, you can just buy a different phone. Confusingly, Deutsche Telekom calls the AI Phone a "concept," but also says it will be "available in course of the year." Presumably, the phone's AI functionality has been worked out, but the other hardware and features haven't been finalized yet. The company expects to release it sometime in 2026 in Europe. Deutsche Telekom is also working on partnerships with other AI services, which should be available in the MeinMagenta app for DT subscribers later this summer. They include a Google Cloud AI integration for translations and questions, ElevenLabs for converting documents and links into "engaging multi-speaker podcasts," and AI avatars from Picsart. All those services already have Android and iPhone apps available. The company said in its announcement, "Thanks to the Perplexity assistant, Deutsche Telekom's new AI Phone becomes an indispensable companion: order a taxi, reserve a table, translate in real time, and answer all questions. In the future, millions of Deutsche Telekom customers will always have a virtual butler on their AI Phone at their side. In addition, he writes e-mails, starts phone calls, plays music, summarizes texts or translates them, makes calendar entries and much more. In addition, Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart can also be found on the AI phone." Source: Deutsche Telekom, TechCrunch

AI Takes Center Stage on Deutsche Telekom's Perplexity Phone and I Tried It Out

Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. With every passing tech launch it feels like generative AI is invading more and more devices, especially as companies position their AI features front and center as the primary reason we should consider buying their products. There's no better example of this than the AI Phone (the clue's in the name, really), a smartphone designed by carrier Deutsche Telekom (DT) together with OpenAI competitor Perplexity and announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. I got a first-hand look at an early version of the AI phone in DT's hot pink booth at MWC and was shown a demo of how Perplexity has been integrated into the device. The one thing that struck me immediately was the extent to which DT has chosen to push AI into the foreground. It's something that I expect we'll only see more of in the coming year, most likely in partnerships between specialist AI companies and phone makers. The AI assistant is activated by either the pink button on the side of the phone or by a dedicated icon on the lock screen that sits where a home button would have lived once upon a time. The default input is to give Perplexity a task or ask it a question as a voice command, but you can also switch to typing if that's your preference. I saw a demo of what has become the de facto example of how an AI assistant works: the restaurant booking. Perplexity will suggest restaurants for you and then help you with booking the right one by taking you right to OpenTable. "You can see at the top the sources, which is one of the reasons we like Perplexity a lot," Deutsche Telekom product manager Benedetta Basile tells me. By baking Perplexity into the AI Phone, we're seeing what it likely DT's first step towards an even more AI-centered interface. Last year at MWC, also at the DT booth, I saw a concept phone designed as a partnership between the carrier and a Silicon Valley-based company called Brain.AI. The phone generated an interface using AI in real time dependent on the task at hand in a bid to move away from using apps completely, but being a concept was perhaps a little ahead of its time. DT's 2025 AI phone differs from this in that it's basically still a standard Android phone with apps downloaded from the Google Play Store, but AI has been given center stage. The idea is to reduce our reliance on app switching, without doing away with them completely. The Perplexity Assistant can also help you with a slew of other productivity-centered tasks from creating calendar entries, to writing emails, to translation. But Perplexity is also just one part of DT's wider artificial intelligence offering, which sits under the banner of Magenta AI. This suite of AI tools will not just be available on the AI phone, but via the DT app - it just won't be as central to the phone's interface. From this summer, Magenta AI will also include tools and features from Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart. As for the phone, which is the latest in DT's ongoing own-brand T Phone series, it will be available to customers in European markets where the network operates in the second half of this year, with pricing still to be announced. The likelihood is that it will be a more affordable alternative to many of the flagship models that offer a similarly AI-centric experience, but at a higher price.

T-Mobile's parent company is making an AI Phone with Perplexity

Mobile World Congress Read our complete coverage of Mobile World Congress Updated less than 1 minute ago The year 2025 has seen nearly every smartphone brand tout the virtues of artificial intelligence. But with the exception of Google and its Gemini assistant on Pixel phones, we haven't seen AI companies making an aggressive hardware push in the segment. That's about to change. T-Mobile's parent company has announced plans for an "AI Phone" that is being developed in partnership with Perplexity. The AI company, which counts Nvidia and Jeff Bezos among its investors, will offer its eponymous AI tool for the phone. Recommended Videos Just like the Gemini integration on Google's Pixel phones or Siri running the show on iPhones, the upcoming AI Phone will have Perplexity available at a system-wide level. Users will be able to interact with the AI assistant even on the Lock Screen. Please enable Javascript to view this content We are proud to partner with @deutschetelekom to make Perplexity Assistant the native feature on their new AI Phone. pic.twitter.com/rYwsuySLW4 — Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) March 3, 2025 In addition to Perplexity, the phone will also offer access to Google Cloud AI, Picsart, and ElevenLabs. The latter recently inked a deal with Spotify and also launched its own publishing platform that lets users generate audiobooks within a few minutes using AI tools for free. PicsArt, Google Cloud, and ElevenLabs will be accessible via a dedicated Magenta AI app. Google Cloud will bring vision-based AI analysis capabilities, ElevenLabs will turn user-uploaded content into podcasts, while Picsart will help with generating fun images. As far as Perplexity's role on the AI Phone goes, it will come with a familiar set of tricks such as voice interaction, translations, and answering queries based on information pulled from the internet. Notably, the Perplexity integration might also offer some agentic capabilities, as well. "The AI assistant can also do shopping and write emails conveniently and without having to switch between apps," says Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile. It is unclear how the AI agent will be able to execute tasks, but there's certainly some precedent out there. OpenAI recently introduced Operator, a tool that can accomplish tasks such as booking a ticket or ordering food on behalf of users. Google's Gemini relies on a system of extension to perform chores across other platforms. Deutsche Telekom says its Perplexity-powered AI phone will be officially launched in the second half of 2025. As per TechCrunch, the phone will be priced under a thousand dollars and will hit the shelves at some point in 2026.

T-Mobile's Parent Company Set to Launch AI Phone

I'm a Mobile Analyst at PCMag, which means I cover wireless phones, plans, tablets, ereaders, and a whole lot more. I've always loved technology and have been forming opinions on consumer electronics since childhood. Prior to joining PCMag, I covered TVs and home entertainment at CNET, served as the tech and electronics reviews fellow at Insider, and began my career by writing laptop reviews as an intern at Tom's Hardware. I am also a professional actor with credits in theater, film, and television. Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, is investing heavily in AI. The company announced at Mobile World Congress that it will launch an AI phone later this year. The device will be devoid of apps as we know them and rely on an AI virtual assistant for everything instead. The assistant will be accessible directly from the lock screen or by double-tapping the power button. Perplexity AI will power the assistant, though services from Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs, and Picsart will eventually be available on the phone as well. Deutsche Telekom first debuted the AI phone concept at MWC in 2024 and has spent the last year refining it. The "Magenta AI" assistant, as it is being called, will be able to write emails, start phone calls, play music, summarize or translate text, add entries to your calendar, and more. Deutsche Telekom did not divulge what the phone may look like or what hardware will power the device, but existing customers will not need to buy a new phone to access Magenta AI. The company says Magenta AI will be available for download through the MeinMagenta app, allowing people to use the same features from the devices they already own. While Deutsche Telekom says the phone will be available this year, it didn't provide a specific timeline. It also remains unclear when or if it will be made available from T-Mobile in the US.

T-Mobile Parent Developing a Voice-Activated AI Phone | PYMNTS.com

T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom is developing an "AI Phone" that would embed generative artificial intelligence (AI) systemwide as its "virtual butler." Users would simply talk to the phone to get it to do tasks, instead of switching between apps. "This is the future of AI innovation for consumers," Claudia Nemat, member of the board of management for technology and innovation at Deutsche Telekom, said in a blog post. "The days of the confusing app jungle are over." It's like having a "virtual butler" who "writes e-mails, starts phone calls, plays music, summarizes texts or translates them, makes calendar entries and much more," the telecom giant said in the post. Deutsche Telekom is using the technology from Perplexity, an AI startup that provides real-time answers through a conversational interface, similar to ChatGPT. The Perplexity assistant will serve as the primary AI interface on the AI Phone, just like the way Siri runs systemwide in iPhones and Gemini being natively embedded in Google Pixel smartphones. Crucially, the Perplexity assistant will be accessible from the lock screen or by double-pressing the power button, indicating a deep integration into the device's core functionality. According to TechCrunch, the AI Phone will be priced below $1,000. It will be unveiled later this year and start shipping in 2026. The first markets for the AI Phone will be in Europe. Read more: Perplexity Announces AI-Powered Web Browser Comet Deutsche Telekom is introducing the AI Phone at a time of intense competition in the AI-powered devices market, with major tech companies and telecommunications providers seeking to differentiate themselves. In January, Samsung positioned its Galaxy smartphones as "AI companions" that more deeply embed the technology into the device. Its phone can do such things as picking up on nuances in conversations and anticipating people's needs -- all based on a basket of user information it calls a "personal data engine." Google has continued to add AI features to its Pixel smartphones, such as Gemini Live, an AI chatbot that can engage in free-flowing conversation with the user and helps with tasks. Meanwhile, Apple reportedly might delay a long overdue upgrade to Siri. See also: Apple Reportedly Battling Bugs Holding Back Long-Awaited Siri Upgrade To bring additional capabilities to the AI Phone, Deutsche Telekom is partnering with Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs and Picsart. Their services will be offered starting in the summer. Here's what the three partners bring to the AI phone:

Deutsche Telekom, Perplexity Team Up on AI Phone to Challenge Apple - Decrypt

The era of AI devices isn't over yet -- there are still some companies who are daring to try new things. Yesterday at Mobile World Congress 2025, Deutsche Telekom unveiled plans to release its own AI-powered smartphone, turning what was once a concept into a tangible product ready to hit store shelves this year. The phone features Perplexity's AI assistant as its primary "co-pilot," promising to handle everything from booking taxis to answering complex questions without users needing to navigate between apps. The device reflects a significant shift for the telecom giant, which now wants to position itself as "an AI company" rather than merely a network provider. "The trusted AI companion, our AI Phone, will help you in many situations," Claudia Nemat, Member of the Board of Management for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom, said in a press release. "Find reliable answers with reference to the source, conveniently book a restaurant or taxi, let an AI assistant do your shopping -- all without having to switch between apps. Intuitively and preferably by voice," "This is the future of AI. The days of the confusing app jungle are over." Deutsche Telekom's AI push extends beyond Perplexity to include collaborations with other major players. Google Cloud AI will provide real-time translation capabilities, allowing users to translate conversations quicklyor interpret written text simply by pointing the camera at signs or menus. ElevenLabs will enable quick voice creation, with Picsart offering AI avatar generation for customizing profile pictures. All these features fall under the "Magenta AI" umbrella, Deutsche Telekom's branded AI experience designed to work across both new hardware and existing devices. "We foresee a role for Deutsche Telekom in democratizing access to the best of Generative AI technology for our customers. This is our core vision for 'Magenta AI,'" said Jon Abrahamson, chief product & digital officer at Deutsche Telekom. "Magenta AI stands for amazing, useful, secure AI services. Once used, you will never give it back." The company's AI phone project enters a market where previous dedicated AI devices have struggled to gain traction. The Rabbit R1, a $199 handheld AI companion debuted earlier this year but failed to live up to its promises despite significant pre-launch hype. Similarly, the Humane Ai Pin, priced at $699, received bad reviews upon release, and its company ended up being acquired by HP for $116 million -- a lot less than the expected $1 Billion. Both devices ultimately struggled to differentiate themselves from what standard smartphones with built-in AI assistants could already do. Deutsche Telekom aims to avoid this pitfall by deeply integrating AI capabilities into a fully functional smartphone rather than creating a separate companion device. Deutsche Telekom didn't reveal specific hardware details but the phone . The initial rollout will target European markets where Deutsche Telekom has a strong presence, particularly in Germany and other central European countries. For Deutsche Telekom customers who don't want to purchase new hardware, the company will offer selected AI functions through the MeinMagenta app starting this summer, including access to some of the latest AI models that will be available in its upcoming phone.