Telephone companies brace for coming AI storm

There's a storm coming and it's headed for telephone companies. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble in August 2025, a caution that was followed by warnings from the Bank of England, International Monetary Fund, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Given the risk of a bubble and its potential collapse, how are communications service providers looking ahead? How can telephone companies not just survive the coming AI storm but thrive? The prescription for how telcos should leverage AI: Forget about all the talk about a bubble. Treat AI like any other emerging technology. Invest wisely, use the technology to achieve measurable business results, involve the whole business in planning and execution, measure outcomes and, based on those measurements, increase investment in what's working and adjust course or abandon what failed.