NVIDIA, a US-based technology company known for its graphics processing and AI computing platforms, will invest $1 billion in Finnish telecommunications company Nokia as part of ITS partnership to develop AI-powered radio access network (AI-RAN) technologies for 5G-Advanced and 6G networks.
The collaboration will combine NVIDIA’s expertise in AI and accelerated computing with Nokia’s radio access network (RAN) technology to build an AI-native platform for 5G-Advanced and future 6G networks. The companies said the initiative will allow telecom providers to improve network performance, reduce energy use, and deliver new AI-driven services at the network edge.
“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,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
Under the agreement, Nokia will incorporate NVIDIA’s Aerial RAN Computer Pro (ARC-Pro) into its AirScale baseband portfolio. ARC-Pro is a 6G-ready platform that combines computing, connectivity, and sensing functions, enabling telecom providers to move from 5G-Advanced to 6G through software upgrades rather than full hardware replacement.
“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, capable of processing intelligence from the data center all the way to the edge,” said Justin Hotard, president and CEO, Nokia. “Our partnership with NVIDIA, and their investment in Nokia, will accelerate AI-RAN innovation to put an AI data center into everyone’s pocket.”
T-Mobile US will work with both companies to test and validate AI-RAN technologies as part of its 6G research and development. Field trials are expected to begin in 2026 to evaluate network performance and energy efficiency.
The companies explained AI-RAN unifies AI and radio access workloads on a single, software-defined infrastructure, allowing operators to serve growing generative AI and edge computing traffic alongside traditional network functions. The platform will also enable faster innovation cycles and improve the use of existing network assets.