NVIDIA and Nokia to sign a strategic partnership to enable accelerated development and deployment of next generation AI native mobile networks and AI networking infrastructure.
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NVIDIA and Nokia have teamed up in a strategic partnership to enhance Nokia’s radio access network (RAN) with NVIDIA’s AI technology. This collaboration aims to help communication service providers launch advanced 5G and future 6G networks.
As part of this deal, NVIDIA will invest $1B in Nokia, buying shares at $6.01 each, pending standard conditions.
Additionally, both companies are also working together to build the infrastructure for distributed edge AI, which allows faster data processing at the network’s edge.
In this, T-Mobile U.S. will collaborate with them to test these new AI-RAN technologies, with trials set to begin in 2026.
The move will lead to significant improvements in performance and efficiency, ensuring that consumers using generative, agentic, and physical AI applications on their devices experience seamless network connectivity.
Additionally, it will support the development of future AI-native devices, such as drones and augmented or virtual reality glasses, while being prepared for 6G applications like integrated sensing and communications.
“Telecommunications is a critical national infrastructure — the digital nervous system of our economy and security,” says Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
“Built on NVIDIA CUDA and AI, AI-RAN will revolutionise telecommunications — a generational platform shift that empowers the United States to regain global leadership in this vital infrastructure technology. Together with Nokia and America’s telecom ecosystem, we’re igniting this revolution, equipping operators to build intelligent, adaptive networks that will define the next generation of global connectivity,” adds Huang.
Providing growth in AI traffic
With Nokia and NVIDIA-powered AI-RAN systems, mobile operators can improve performance and efficiency as well as enhance network experiences for future generative and agentic AI applications and experiences.
They will be able to introduce new AI services for 6G with the same infrastructure, powering billions of new connections for drones, cars, robots, and augmented- and virtual-reality glasses that demand connectivity, computing and sensing at the edge.
6G-ready computing platform
NVIDIA is launching the Aerial RAN Computer Pro (ARC-Pro), a new computing platform that is ready for 6G.
This platform combines connectivity, computing, and sensing capabilities, enabling telecom companies to upgrade from 5G-Advanced to 6G using software updates.
The ARC-Pro reference design is available for manufacturers and network providers to create both standard and custom AI-RAN products, suitable for new installations and upgrades of existing base stations.
Nokia will enhance its 5G and 6G RAN software using the NVIDIA CUDA platform and will include ARC-Pro in its AI-RAN solution.
This partnership will help Nokia’s mobile network customers easily transition to future AI-RAN networks.
Nokia’s anyRAN approach simplifies the integration of the ARC-Pro platform, allowing for a smooth evolution of both Cloud RAN and specialised RAN systems.
The AirScale baseband architecture is modular, meaning new components can work alongside older ones. Nokia plans to upgrade its AirScale baseband for the 5G-Advanced and 6G era with new AI-RAN features.
Dell Technologies is supporting Nokia’s AI-RAN solution with its powerful Dell PowerEdge servers. These servers are designed for easy scalability, allowing for effortless software updates and minimal hardware changes.
“The telecommunications industry owns the most valuable real estate for AI — the edge, where data is created,” says Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Technologies.
“This AI-RAN collaboration with Nokia and NVIDIA makes that potential real. We’ve built some of the world’s largest AI clusters with 100,000+ GPUs. Now we’re applying that expertise to distribute intelligence across millions of edge nodes. The operators who modernise their infrastructure today won’t just carry AI traffic — they’ll be the distributed AI grid factories that process it at the source, where latency matters and data sovereignty is critical.”
Future-proofing 6G
Nokia and NVIDIA’s AI-RAN platform combines artificial intelligence and radio access functions on a flexible software-based infrastructure.
This improves performance, efficiency, and revenue while providing an easy and cost-effective upgrade path to 6G.
The platform receives regular software updates, keeping it relevant for 6G and beyond. This allows for quick innovation in line with AI developments.
It can handle increasing traffic from generative and agentic AI alongside regular RAN functions. By using AI algorithms, the platform enhances spectral and energy efficiency and overall network performance.
“With America’s best network, T-Mobile remains committed to advancing next-generation technologies that redefine the customer experience,” says John Saw, president of technology and chief technology officer at T-Mobile.
“Our collaboration with industry leaders Nokia and NVIDIA marks an important step toward shaping the future of connectivity as we develop the innovations that will power the 6G era. Building on the foundation established by the AI-RAN Innovation Centre in 2024, this strategic initiative reinforces T-Mobile’s leadership in driving the U.S. wireless industry forward. Beginning in 2026, T-Mobile will conduct field evaluations and testing of advanced AI-RAN technologies to ensure they meet the evolving needs of our customers as we move toward 6G.”
