The move marks the latest equity investment by chip giant Nvidia as it looks to stay ahead in the AI race.
Nvidia is making a $1bn equity investment in Finnish telecoms infrastructure firm Nokia, as the two firms undertake a strategic partnership centred on working together on leveraging AI into telecoms networks and data centre development.
The deal will see the US chip giant acquire more than 166 million new Nokia shares, at $6.01 each, giving Nvidia a 2.90 per cent stake in Nokia.
Nvidia’s investment marks the latest in a recent spree of equity stake deals undertaken by the US chip giant, as it looks to cement its position at the forefront of the AI race.
Nokia says it will use the funds to speed up Nokia’s 5G & 6G software to run on Nvidia’s architecture as well as increase its presence in the AI & cloud market, according to a statement.
Nokia added: “Nokia and Nvidia have agreed to collaborate on AI networking solutions and explore opportunities to incorporate Nokia’s data centre switching and optical technologies in Nvidia’s future AI infrastructure architecture.”
Nokia, well known for its early mobile phones, has pivoted into a telecoms infrastructure company and is now mainly known as a supplier of 5G cellular equipment to telecom providers.
Nvidia has previously announced deals to invest $100bn in OpenAI and made a $5bn investment in Intel.
Nokia’s shares were up 15 per cent following the announcement.