Deutsche Telekom and OpenAI Partner for Innovative AI Products

OpenAI and Deutsche Telekom (DTE) today announced a multi-year collaboration focused on co-developing new AI products and experiences. Deutsche Telekom has been granted early access to an alpha-phase model, with the goal of bringing simple, privacy-first AI to millions of customers at scale. First pilots for these new AI products are planned for Q1 2026.

This strategic collaboration aims to integrate advanced AI capabilities across Deutsche Telekom’s customer and business operations throughout Europe. As one of the first companies to receive early access to an alpha-phase model, Deutsche Telekom will partner with OpenAI to design innovative AI-powered products designed to enhance how people communicate. This partnership builds upon Deutsche Telekom’s established use of AI in existing products, customer care, and network operations, leveraging OpenAI’s global leadership in frontier research and enterprise-grade AI solutions.

New AI experiences for customers will be developed, leveraging the widespread familiarity of ChatGPT, which is utilized by more than 800 million people weekly globally. This extensive user base provides a strong foundation for creating AI experiences that are intuitive, helpful, and user-friendly, thereby accelerating enterprise AI adoption. Deutsche Telekom and OpenAI are committed to working together to design simple, personal, and multilingual AI experiences across various communication and everyday productivity tasks, with initial pilots scheduled for Q1 2026.

Brad Lightcap, COO at OpenAI, commented, “Deutsche Telekom brings AI experience, best quality networks and trust and deep customer reach in Europe. With our frontier research and enterprise platform, we’re supporting them in upgrading and strengthening operations, and deploying advanced AI across both customer experiences and internal workflows.”

Abdurazak Mudesir, board member for product and technology at Deutsche Telekom, emphasized the strategic nature of the partnership, stating, “This is not a typical vendor relationship, it is a strategic collaboration helping shape the future of AI in Europe. Together with OpenAI, we are building next-generation products, strengthening our core operations with AI. We are focused on making AI intuitive, secure, and meaningful in everyday life for our customers, employees, and our networks.”

As part of the “AI inside Deutsche Telekom” initiative, Deutsche Telekom will make ChatGPT Enterprise available across its entire organization. This will provide employees with secure access to OpenAI’s most capable tools, enabling teams to work more effectively, improve customer service, and dedicate more time to innovation. AI is also set to play an expanded role in customer care, internal copilots, and network operations, supporting the Group’s progression toward more autonomous, self-healing networks.

With a global mobile customer base exceeding 261 million, Deutsche Telekom provides a robust platform for integrating AI into everyday use at scale. This new collaboration signifies a significant advancement in Deutsche Telekom’s AI journey, transitioning from early-stage pilots to the deployment of large-scale products that deliver practical AI benefits to everyone.