NVIDIA and Nokia Forge $1 Billion Alliance to Build 6G AI Platform, Aiming to Secure US Tech Leadership

In a major strategic move to define the next generation of wireless technology, AI chip giant NVIDIA and telecommunications leader Nokia have announced a landmark partnership. NVIDIA will invest $1 billion in Nokia to jointly pioneer a new, "AI-native" platform for 6G networks.

The collaboration is being framed as a direct effort to ensure the United States regains global leadership in telecommunications, a field increasingly central to economic and national security.

"An AI Data Center into Everyone's Pocket"
The partnership aims to fundamentally redesign mobile networks. Instead of just transmitting data, the future 6G networks will be built to compute and process AI tasks natively, from the core data center all the way to the network's edge.

NVIDIA is contributing its new "Aerial RAN Computer Pro (ARC-Pro)," a 6G-ready accelerated computing platform. Nokia will integrate this technology into its industry-leading AirScale RAN portfolio and accelerate its 5G and 6G software to run on NVIDIA's CUDA platform.

The goal is to create a powerful AI-RAN (AI Radio Access Network). This new architecture is designed to:

Handle the explosive growth of mobile AI traffic, driven by generative AI applications.

Power a new wave of 6G-era devices like AR/VR glasses, autonomous robots, and drones.

Allow operators to seamlessly upgrade from 5G-Advanced to 6G through software updates rather than costly hardware replacements.

Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia, described the vision succinctly: "The next leap in telecom isn't just from 5G to 6G—it's a fundamental redesign of the network to deliver AI-powered connectivity... Our partnership with Nvidia... will accelerate AI-RAN innovation to put an AI data center into everyone's pocket."

Securing America's Return to Telecom Leadership
The $1 billion equity investment from NVIDIA, which will give it a 2.9% stake in the Finnish company, is intended to fast-track this innovation.

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the strategic importance of the deal, casting it as a move to secure America's technological future.

"Telecommunications is a critical national infrastructure—the digital nervous system of our economy and security," Huang stated. "Built on Nvidia CUDA and AI, AI-RAN will revolutionize telecommunications—a generational platform shift that empowers the United States to regain global leadership in this vital infrastructure technology."

To prove out the technology, T-Mobile U.S. has already signed on to collaborate with the duo, with plans to test the new AI-RAN technologies as part of its 6G development process starting in 2026. Dell Technologies is also involved, providing its PowerEdge servers to power the new solutions.