Intel Unveils Clearwater Forest “18A” Xeon+ CPU Performance: Designed For 6G & Edge AI

Intel has officially unveiled its next-gen Clearwater Forest "Xeon 6+" CPUs based on the 18A process tech, powering future 6G technologies & Edge AI.

Intel Clearwater Forest "Xeon 6+" CPUs All Set To Power Next-Gen Edge AI & 6G Platforms With Leading-Edge 18A Tech

Press Release: With 6G on the horizon, operators are clear that success won’t come from architectural resets, but from evolving the strong compute foundations already built in 5G. Moreover, progress will come from deploying intelligence responsibly and at scale across existing infrastructure — not by adding complexity, but by strengthening what’s already working.

That’s the lens we’re bringing to Mobile World Congress 2026. This next chapter of network evolution will be won by those with proven industry depth and partner know-how — the ones who make networks simpler, more secure, and more efficient so inference can be deployed within real-world performance targets, power, and economic constraints.

What we’re hearing from operators

Across the ecosystem, a few themes keep repeating:

• Inference should be inherent. There’s a need for AI built directly into the network — not added through new accelerators or disruptive architectural changes.
• Efficiency is imperative. To free resources for new revenue-generating services, decisions are driven by power savings, infrastructure consolidation, and lowering TCO — all while keeping pace with evolving end‑user demands and fast‑shifting usage patterns.
• Openness builds trust. Operators want a secure, stable, production-grade platform — one that’s open and proven in commercial networks, and offers a low-risk evolution path toward 6G.

Intel and its partners are bringing more AI compute to the RAN and Core right now with products like the Intel Xeon 6 with E-cores, Xeon 6 SoC, and Intel Ethernet 800 and 600 series. Intel’s approach is straightforward: deliver an open, secure compute foundation that can run critical workloads — network functions, security, enterprise services, and AI inference — on one platform. With a consistent foundation, operators can modernize each generation without rip‑and‑replace, turning infrastructure into a lever for faster services and better economics. These benefits extend to consumers as well, enabling more reliable connectivity, more personalized experiences, and greater cost‑efficiency.

AI in networks isn’t “CPU vs. GPU” — it’s right compute for the workload

It’s tempting to reduce this discussion to a binary debate: CPU versus GPU. But that’s not how infrastructure evolves — and it’s not how operators build networks.

Different AI workloads will use different forms of compute, and the most effective strategy is to match each workload with the architecture that delivers the best mix of performance, efficiency, cost, and ease of deployment. Intel Xeon 6 with E-cores and Intel Xeon 6 SoC can expand network capacity, enhance productivity, and AI capabilities in the Core and RAN, respectively— all while maintaining openness and operator control.

What doesn’t scale is applying a GPU-first worldview indiscriminately to inference-heavy network workloads. That approach can increase cost and complexity, introduce new operational silos, and force architectural changes that aren’t justified by the workloads themselves.

In networks, the question isn’t “Can we run AI?” It’s “Can we run AI without re-architecting everything we already operate – and what impact will it have on our cost and power budgets now and for the foreseeable future?”

In the RAN, AI is about matching each workload to the right compute—not defaulting to discrete accelerators. Intel Xeon 6 SoC integrates AI acceleration directly into the vRAN stack using Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX) and Intel vRAN Boost to run the vast majority of inference on the server itself—without the cost, power, complexity, or space demands of separate AI hardware. This delivers real impact: lower TCO, better use of existing infrastructure, and AI that can be deployed in live networks today with no architectural overhaul. For operators exploring AI but prioritizing efficiency and affordability, Xeon 6 SoC enables “AI without compromise,” which is predictable performance, simpler operations, and easy scaling across thousands of cells.

Here are a few real-world examples of how operators are using the Intel Xeon 6 SoC in today’s networks—demonstrating how its architecture delivers the right compute for AI workloads without forcing a CPU versus GPU tradeoff.

• Rakuten Mobile is working with Intel to leverage the built‑in AI acceleration of Intel Xeon 6 SoC, jointly training, optimizing, and deploying advanced AI models tailored for demanding RAN workloads with ultra‑low, real‑time latency requirements.
• Vodafone has committed to adopting Intel Xeon 6 SoCs for its large‑scale Open RAN and vRAN modernization across Europe, building on its earlier UK deployments where Intel Xeon powered its first commercial ORAN rollouts.

Here are a few real‑world examples of Intel Xeon 6 with E-cores in action since its launch just over a year ago:

• SK Telecom is deploying Xeon 6 with E-cores and Intel Ethernet 800 Series product in its mobile core production environment.
• NTT DOCOMO has selected Xeon 6 with E-cores and Intel Ethernet E830 Network Adapter for next-generation mobile core deployments.

Looking ahead, network equipment providers (NEPs) and service providers have already seen firsthand how Intel’s E‑core architecture delivers efficiency, density, performance, and security across today’s Core infrastructure environments. As customer needs evolve toward platforms that offer predictable performance, strong reliability, and efficient scalability to reduce TCO, Intel is advancing to the next step in the Xeon 6 roadmap: Intel Xeon 6+.

[Editor's Note] In testing by Ericsson, Intel shows that a single Xeon 6990E+ "Clearwater Forest" chip with 288 cores offers 38% reduction in runtime rack power, more than 60% greater perf/watt, and 30% higher overall performance versus a dual socket Xeon 6780E "Sierra Forest" platform with 288 cores. The Clearwater Forest family is expected to arrive by 2027.

Built on Intel 18A and designed for exceptional efficiency, Xeon 6+ gives operators a platform that scales workloads aggressively, cuts energy use, and enables more intelligent network services. Moreover, it brings increases in core density while reducing power consumption—directly improving total cost of ownership. From 5G infrastructure to cloud‑native applications, these processors are engineered to optimize performance, efficiency, and cost, redefining data‑center economics on the road to 6G. We’re previewing this next generation here at MWC, with more details to come in the months ahead.

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