Nvidia to take $1B stake in Nokia to grow AI networking

ISTANBUL

Nokia announced on Tuesday that chipmaker Nvidia will take a $1 billion stake in the networking company.

Nokia said in a statement that the company will issue more than 166 million new shares, with the proceeds earmarked to support its AI initiatives and other general corporate purposes.

The two companies also agreed on a strategic partnership to jointly develop next-generation 6G technology.

“Nokia and NVIDIA have agreed to collaborate on AI networking solutions and explore opportunities to incorporate Nokia’s data center switching and optical technologies in NVIDIA’s future AI infrastructure architecture,” the statement said.

The announcement comes ahead of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote at the company’s developer conference in Washington, DC, where he is expected to discuss some of the joint projects and future plans with Nokia.

In recent months, Nvidia has acquired stakes in several strategic partners as it emerges at the forefront of the AI industry. Following the announcement, Nokia's shares jumped as much as 26%.