Telco OEM Nokia plans to develop AI-ready radio access network (RAN) solutions in partnership with GPU darling Nvidia.

As part of Nokia's anyRAN effort, the companies will develop cloud-network technology and explore how AI can revolutionize the industry.

The two companies will work on Cloud RAN solutions using Nvidia Grace CPU Superchips for Layer 2+ processing. Nokia will also use Nvidia GPUs for AI applications and vRAN acceleration, as an early step towards building an AI-RAN.

The Grace Superchip combines a GPU with Nvidia's Arm CPU based on the Neoverse V2 CPU reference architecture.

“This is an important collaboration with Nvidia that will explore how artificial intelligence can play a transformative role in the future of our industry," Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia, said.

Ronnie Vasishta, SVP of telecom at Nvidia, said: “Bringing the power of Nvidia's advanced computing to Nokia’s platform will deliver more performant and energy-efficient Cloud RAN solutions.

"Plus, as AI creates unprecedented transformational opportunities across industries, our collaboration with Nokia deepens AI-enabled innovation in radio access networks for improved operational efficiency in telecommunications.”