Nvidia put forth a $1 billion investment in Nokia as the two companies teamed up on AI-native infrastructure. The ultimate aim is to incorporate the US chip company’s related technology with the vendor’s RAN portfolio for 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and future 6G infrastructure.
The investment is to be made through the issuance of fresh Nokia shares and will result in Nvidia holding a 2.9 per cent stake in the vendor once customary closing conditions are met.
Nokia stated it intends to use the proceeds to speed development of its 5G and 6G RAN software for Nvidia architecture, along with their broader AI infrastructure arrangement.
The AI-native infrastructure collaboration could also be extended to cover Nokia’s data centre switching and optical technologies.
Nokia and Nvidia separately stated the AI-RAN work would act as a foundation for distributed edge inferencing along with fresh services for consumers and enterprises.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes the developments will contribute to US efforts to “regain global leadership” in telecoms infrastructure by making it a frontrunner in AI-RAN.
The companies are working with T-Mobile US and Dell Technologies on developments involving the infrastructure.
Huang said Nvidia and Nokia are “igniting” an AI-RAN revolution, “equipping operators to build intelligent, adaptive networks that will define the next generation of global connectivity”.
Nokia CEO Justin Hotard said the tie-up is necessary because the “next leap in telecom isn’t just from 5G to 6G: it’s a fundamental redesign of the network” involving AI connectivity which can process “intelligence from the data centre all the way to the edge”.
Nvidia and Nokia predict AI-RAN will provide a bump in mobile network performance and efficiency required by current and future iterations of the technology.
They stated almost half of the 800 million weekly active users of ChatGPT access it on mobile devices.
Nvidia aims to ease the transition from 5G-A to 6G through Aerial RAN Computer Pro (ARC-Pro), an accelerated computing platform enabling operators to switch using software updates. It is making a reference design available to encourage broad backing by other manufacturers and network equipment vendors.
Nokia plans to include ARC-Pro in a new AI-RAN product it stated would ease the transition from traditional radio infrastructure.
Partners
The Finnish vendor’s ambition is in part being advanced by Dell Technologies’ PowerEdge servers, which provide no-touch software upgrades and only minimal intervention on the silicon side.
T-Mobile’s involvement builds on an existing collaboration with Nvidia on AI-native infrastructure. The operator plans to test the technologies developed by the chip company and Nokia, with a target of commencing field trials covering performance and efficiency gains in 2026.
John Saw, President of Technology and CTO at T-Mobile, said Nokia’s involvement with the pair is “an important step towards shaping the future of connectivity”, in particular preparations for 6G.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: Stock Image
