Samsung buys Spanish AI firm Zhilabs in prep for 5G

Samsung Electronics announced that it has acquired Barcelona-based artificial intelligence startup Zhilabs in a bid to further enhance its 5G capabilities.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Zhilabs will be fully owned by Samsung, but it will continue to operate independently under its own management, the South Korean vendor said in a statement.

Zhilabs provides AI-based network and service analytics solutions and its products are used by telecoms carriers including Celcom, Maxis, NTT East, Telenor, O2, Vodafone, TIM, and Telefonica.

Samsung said AI-based automation will play a central role in the introduction of new services driven by 5G, such as industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and connected cars, as carriers seek to implement new automated solutions and network virtualization features.

“5G will enable unprecedented services that generate exponentially greater data traffic, for which automated and intelligent network analytics tools are vital,” said Youngky Kim, president and head of networks business at Samsung Electronics.

“The acquisition of Zhilabs will enable Samsung to help carriers meet these demands to measure and ensure the quality of each subscriber’s service experience.”

The acquisition of Zhilabs is also part of the company’s pledge, announced in August, to invest 25 trillion won ($22 billion) in AI, 5G, automotive electronics components and biopharmaceuticals technologies.