Nvidia will make an equity investment of $1 billion in Nokia at a subscription price of $6.01 per share, the two companies announced.
With the investment, which is subject to certain customary closing conditions, Nokia will issue 166,389,351 new shares to Nvidia, giving it a 2.90% stake in the Finnish company.
Nokia said it will use the proceeds from the issue to accelerate its strategic plans to “advance reliable connectivity for AI supercycles and other general corporate purposes.”
In addition, Nokia intends to accelerate the development of its 5G and 6G RAN software to run on Nvidia’s architecture and will also invest to increase its presence in AI and cloud markets with data center-aligned networking solutions.
In addition to this equity investment, Nokia and Nvidia also agreed to collaborate on AI networking solutions and explore opportunities to incorporate Nokia’s data center switching and optical technologies into Nvidia’s future AI infrastructure architecture.
Returning to RAN tech, Nvidia said T-Mobile US will collaborate with Nvidia and Nokia “to pilot and test AI-RAN technology as part of the 6G innovation and development process, strengthening its global leadership in driving wireless innovation.” Trials are expected to begin next year and will focus on field validation of performance and efficiency benefits for customers.
“The next leap forward in telecom isn’t just from 5G to 6G – it’s a fundamental redesign of networks to deliver AI-powered connectivity, capable of processing intelligence from the data center all the way to the edge. Our partnership with Nvidia and their investment in Nokia will accelerate AI-RAN innovation to put an AI data center in everyone’s pocket.Nokia President and CEO Justin Hotard said.
“We are proud to be driving this industry transformation with Nvidia, Dell Technologies, and T-Mobile US, our first AI-RAN deployment in T-Mobile’s network will ensure that America is at the forefront of the advanced connectivity that AI requires,Hotard added.
Commenting on the partnership with Nokia and T-Mobile, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said, “Telecommunications is a vital national infrastructure – the digital nervous system of our economy and security. 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 critical infrastructure technology. Together with Nokia and America’s telecom ecosystem, we are igniting this revolution, equipping operators to build the intelligent, adaptive networks that will define the next generation of global connectivity.“
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