Samsung Electronics is planning to invest $22bn in 5G networking and AI in order to secure a “minimum” of 20 per cent market share in network equipment by 2020 according to the head of its networking business.During WSJ's D.Live event in California, President and head of the Korean company's network business Youngky Kim told a panel that the next-generation network will unlock AI's potential as he described 5G as the “oxygen” for AI.Kim compared the current network standard 4G to 5G, saying:“AI needs a lot of data to respond to you.

This amount of data can be provided by 5G, not 4G.”Filling the gap left by HuaweiWhen it comes to the network equipment market, Samsung is currently in fifth place after Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia.

However, recent bans from the US and Australia on using Huawei's equipment have provided the Korean tech giant with an opening to expand in the countries that Chinese vendors no longer have access to due to security concerns.Even in Samsung's home country of South Korea, two of the three major telecoms have excluded Huawei from its preferred bidders.Kim also revealed on stage that the company's 5G network will first be deployed in its semiconductor factory in Austin.

While 5G will likely see its commercial release next year, clients are deploying the new network standard earlier in the enterprise.Via ZDNet