Study on the Protocol for Artificial Intelligence in 6G
What language 6G agents speak. The most externally-coupled decision in the release: 3GPP is evaluating four protocols it did not write, which is a different posture from how it has historically handled protocol design.
Specification
TR 29.832
Work item
FS_6G_AIP_CT
Group
CT CT3
Rapporteur
Apostolos Papageorgiou — Nokia Germany
WID
—
Runs
2026 → Sep 2027
Latest
v0.2.0
Status
Critical path
Where it stands
Candidates
Model Context Protocol, Agent2Agent, Agent Network Protocol, and "3GPP protocols" (FFS). Key issues and solutions are still placeholders.
Requirements under study
AI agent identity and secure registration; authentication and authorisation; dynamic networking and capability discovery; intent processing; task collaboration; multi-modal data transmission.
The IETF side stalled
The CATALIST BoF at IETF 125 was "not a WG forming BoF" — the poll ran 100 yes / 43 no / 11 no opinion. There is also an individual draft, draft-stephan-ai-agent-6g.
Open questions
Whether CATALIST or a successor is chartered
Whether 6G reuses an external protocol or defines its own — The three options: adopt IETF work, define 3GPP-specific protocols, or combine existing open-source ones.