Top 3 things that happened on AI in the 6G and 5G core at SA2 #176

The verdict

No KI#18 interim conclusion was recorded. The multi-company interim-conclusion baseline, led by Huawei with nine co-submitters, was noted, and separate interim-conclusion inputs from Samsung (S2-2607288), China Telecom and NTT DOCOMO (all three also co-submitters of the baseline) were not treated. Noted means the meeting did not approve the text, not that its content was rejected. (S2-2608878, S2-2607681, S2-2607437, S2-2607288)
SA2 approved 15 pCRs (per the TDoc register) to the 6G architecture study TR 23.801-01 under KI#18 (AI for 6G), all updates to existing solution variants except a new variant #18.8 on roaming for the AI domain (Google with ZTE, Ericsson, AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Huawei, NTT DOCOMO, Nokia and others). These are study text, not normative decisions. (S2-2609048, S2-2609203, S2-2609043)
For the 5G core, the CRs agreed at working-group level are, by their titles, clarifications and alignment: a Rel-19 and Rel-20 pair on SCP alignment (TS 23.501), Rel-19 clarifications on Signalling Storm Analytics and on model information in analytics context transfer (TS 23.288), and a Rel-20 clarification on the time interval supporting vertical federated learning (TS 23.288, S2-2608886). All still need plenary approval. (S2-2608275, S2-2609066, S2-2609068, S2-2608886)

Who pushed what

Open question	Company	What they push	TDoc
What should the KI#18 interim conclusion say?	Huawei (with 9 co-submitters)	The noted baseline includes closed-loop operation for intent assurance.	S2-2608878 noted
	China Telecom	China Telecom's bullet 8 input; its introduction weighs dedicated against embedded inference NFs; not treated.	S2-2607681 not treated
	NTT DOCOMO	NTT DOCOMO proposes a dedicated training entity; not treated.	S2-2607437 not treated
	Samsung	Samsung proposes mandatory fallback to default procedures; not treated.	S2-2607288 not treated
Where should 6G AI and intent handling sit in the core?	InterDigital (with Oracle)	Approved merged text for variant #18.2 routes intents to an NF with embedded intent handling, such as the PCF.	S2-2609043 approved
	Nokia (with 11 co-submitters)	Approved update to variant #18.3, which describes an AI domain separate from the PS domain.	S2-2609044 approved
	Orange	Orange proposed a new variant with an AI gateway function that triggers AI-domain agents; not treated.	S2-2607568 not treated
How should tool use and operator control of network AI be governed?	ZTE (with 8 co-submitters)	Approved #18.16 text includes an accept or reject response to tool invocation requests.	S2-2609203 approved
	Samsung (with SK Telecom)	Approved #18.22 update: explainability evaluation for state-changing AI/ML-derived actions, as an option.	S2-2609135 approved
	China Telecom	#18.22 update on NF-level control, including UE or AF approval of selected risky tools; not treated.	S2-2607685 not treated
	Ericsson (with AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom)	#18.22 input on operator governance through OAM with NF-level enforcement; not treated.	S2-2606935 not treated

Key outcomes

New solution variant: roaming for the AI domain (study text). A new variant #18.8 on roaming support for the AI domain was approved into TR 23.801-01. (S2-2609048)
Intent handling and a separate AI domain (study text updates). Updates were approved to variant #18.2 (intent handling embedded in other 6G core NFs) and to the variant for a new domain separated from the PS domain (listed as #3, numbered #18.3 in the TR). Approving updates does not choose between variants. (S2-2609043, S2-2609044)
Agents, tools and operator control (study text updates). Updates were approved to variant #18.16 (tool invocation and multi-agent communication), #18.17 and #18.18 (AI capability access) and #18.22 (control of the network's use of AI capabilities). (S2-2609203, S2-2609053, S2-2609135)
5G core: SCP alignment in TS 23.501 (CRs agreed at working-group level). Rel-19 and Rel-20 CRs with the same title from vivo, the register does not show whether one mirrors the other. Both still need plenary approval. (S2-2608275, S2-2608276)

Full brief with every quote, source and caveat: HTML · PDF

Coverage: SA2 #176 (Prague, 2026-08-24 to 2026-08-28), topic agenda items only. Scout read 22 recorded decisions and 122 company positions or passages; the full brief cites 20 TDocs and shows each verbatim quote, matched against the TDoc text. Summaries are Scout's reading. Register status not treated means the meeting recorded no decision on the document, not that it was rejected. Not covered: plenary decisions after the meeting, email discussions.

TDoc links go to the 3GPP file server.

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