Rakuten and OpenAI Partner to Deliver Cutting-Edge AI Tools for Telecom

- Collaboration to design and develop AI solutions tailored to the telecommunications industry.
- Combines Rakuten's industry-leading expertise in Open RAN technology with OpenAI's unparalleled capabilities in AI.

Tokyo & San Francisco, February 26, 2024 - Rakuten Group, Inc. and OpenAI, L.L.C. today announced that the two companies are partnering to develop and deliver cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed for the telecommunications industry.

Rakuten will collaborate with OpenAI to create solutions to address the unique needs and challenges of telecommunications operators when planning, building and managing mobile networks. The Rakuten AI platform will be expanded to include solutions for customer service, network optimization and predictive maintenance of telecom networks. Rakuten AI will enhance operators' ability to detect and resolve network issues in near real-time, enabling more responsive and adaptive network operations while improving service reliability and performance for customers.

Ting Cai, Chief Data Officer of Rakuten Group, commented, "The telecommunications industry is at an inflection point where it must adapt to modern technologies or be left behind. Open RAN decouples software from hardware and makes data more accessible in the cloud, creating a perfect environment for large-scale AI applications. That's why we are excited to partner with OpenAI to reinvent telecom together and generate greater value for consumers and businesses."

"We are excited to partner with Rakuten to bring the power of AI to telecom. We look forward to delivering cutting-edge solutions for customers in the telecommunications industry worldwide," said Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI.

Since disrupting the mobile market by launching the world's first fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network^*1 based on Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) standards, Rakuten Mobile, the mobile operator arm of Rakuten Group, and its telecom platform solutions subsidiary, Rakuten Symphony, have been at the forefront of leading transformation in the telecom industry worldwide. Rakuten will leverage its extensive industry experience to provide detailed scenarios that reflect real-world telecommunications challenges, using Rakuten Mobile as a use case for the deployment of the new technologies.

This collaboration builds on the strategic partnership between Rakuten and OpenAI launched in November 2023^*2, combining Rakuten's industry-leading expertise in Open RAN technology with OpenAI's unparalleled capabilities in AI. The Rakuten AI platform aims to revolutionize the way AI is used in the telecommunications industry.

Notes
^*1 For a large scale commercial mobile network (as of October 1, 2019). Research: Stella Associa.
^*2 Past press release: Rakuten Selects OpenAI as Strategic AI Partner and Collaborator on New "Rakuten AI for Business" Platform https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2023/1114_02.html

About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

About Rakuten
Rakuten Group, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is a global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to 1.8 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has approximately 32,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and regions. For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.