The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has published new guidance on using AI and machine learning in Wi-Fi operations and warned that proprietary implementations and closed interfaces could fragment the market as networks move toward predictive, self-optimizing management.
WBA said its AI/ML for Wi-Fi work was led by Intel and co-led by Airties, Cisco and HPE. It said the group will take its findings to standards bodies, including Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE 802.11 meetings in March 2026.
Why WBA is pushing standards around interfaces, not models
WBA’s guidance argues that standardization should focus on “interoperable frameworks” rather than algorithms. In the WBA’s framing, the critical layer is the interface: common data models, telemetry, APIs and model lifecycle management that let multi-vendor systems exchange network state and decisions.
The report’s stated concern is that inconsistent data quality and closed interfaces can slow innovation and increase integration costs. WBA labeled fragmentation a “major barrier” to scaling intelligent Wi-Fi across real-world deployments.
WBA called data the “primary bottleneck” for AI/ML in Wi-Fi networks and pointed to shared datasets, federated learning and governance models as ways to support broader use cases.
Hybrid AI architecture as the deployment assumption
WBA said it expects “hybrid AI architectures” where intelligence is distributed across client devices, access points, edge servers and cloud systems rather than concentrated at a single management point.
In its description, that distributed model increases the importance of standardized telemetry and interfaces so components can coordinate without vendor-specific translation layers.
The Wi-Fi 8 linkage and what standards bodies are doing now
WBA connected its interoperability push to Wi-Fi 8, stating that features in IEEE 802.11bn such as Dynamic Bandwidth Extension (DBE) and Multiple Access Point Coordination (MAPC) “will work optimally when driven by an AI/ML engine.”
Separately, IEEE 802.11’s working group site describes TGbn as “Ultra-High Reliability, aka Wi-Fi 8” and reported that TGbn had resolved around 740 comments from its D1.0 ballot, with comment resolution expected to complete in May 2026.
On the mechanisms WBA referenced, Qualcomm has described DBE as a way for an access point under load to temporarily expand operating channel bandwidth to serve traffic demand.
Rohde & Schwarz has described MAPC as coordination among access points to optimize latency, reliability and throughput, including schemes such as coordinated beamforming and coordinated spatial reuse.