After much hype, the rush to push out the world’s first true AI-native smartphone has proven to be a damp squib. This week, German giant Deutsche Telekom has officially joined the race—and while the initial result is underwhelming, it offers a glimpse into how network operators of the future will monetize AI as a service layer. The crown of world’s first AI phone could easily be awarded to the first devices to use Neural Processing Units (NPUs) back in 2018, or even to the iPhone 4s which was the first mass-market handset to include an AI voice assistant back in 2011. Samsung awarded itself the title of world’s first AI-powered smartphone back in January 2024, with the Galaxy S24 Series…