- Nokia AI Networking Innovation Lab accelerates innovation in
high-performance networking technologies for large-scale AI training and
real-time inference by designing, testing, and validating new data
center networking architectures built for AI at scale. - Lab serves as a testing ground for Nokia Validated Designs and a
co-innovation hub with global AI and cloud partners—validating
real-world scenarios, integrating commercial technologies, and advancing
next-gen networking solutions to deliver much of the foundational
infrastructure that organizations around the world need to make AI
investments a success. - Early technology partners collaborating in the lab include AMD,
Everpure, Keysight, Lenovo, Nscale, Supermicro and Weka
Sunnyvale, USA – Nokia today announced the launch of its AI Networking
Innovation Lab, a new center designed to drive co-innovation with AI and
cloud partners and accelerate the development of next-generation
networking technologies for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Located within Nokia’s Sunnyvale, California facility, the lab serves
as an innovation hub where Nokia will work across advanced AI networking
technologies, architectures and ecosystems with a variety of partners to
help shape the future of data center networking.
AI workloads are fundamentally changing how data center networks must
operate. The performance, scale, and precision required to support
large-scale AI training and distributed, real-time inference place
unprecedented demands on networking infrastructure. To address these
challenges, Nokia is adopting a new approach to how technologies are
integrated, tested, and deployed from the ground up for the AI era.
The AI Networking Innovation Lab provides an environment where emerging
commercial technologies can be developed and validated. Within the lab,
Nokia brings together advanced AI networking protocols, cutting-edge
switching silicon and hardware platforms, and new architectural concepts
designed specifically for AI-driven data centers. These technologies are
tested and accelerated in close collaboration with a global ecosystem of
partners.
The AI Networking Innovation Lab is built upon three fundamental
pillars: Technology Innovation, Ecosystem Collaboration, and Validation.
Technology Innovation: The lab provides a dedicated space for AI
partners to experiment with next-gen solutions across the entire
networking stack – driving emerging standards forward with pioneering
approaches to new protocols, switching silicon, congestion control,
real-time telemetry, and automation.
“Partnering with Nokia in the AI Networking Innovation Lab has enabled
us to benchmark and optimize AI networks under real-world conditions.
Keysight emulated AI training workloads at scale across a range of AI
transports, from UEC and RoCEv2 to emerging lossless fabric
architectures. Together, we are helping accelerate AI network adoption
by giving operators and hyperscalers the validated insights needed for
confident, large-scale deployment,” said Ram Periakaruppan, Vice
President and General Manager, Network Applications and Security
business at Keysight.
Ecosystem Collaboration: True progress depends on a strong ecosystem of
technology providers – silicon manufacturers, GPU developers, system,
storage and test vendors, and cloud platforms – that work together to
create highly-compatible AI-ready solutions. This facilitates joint
testing for interoperability, improves integration, and ensures roadmaps
are aligned across different hardware, software, and orchestration
layers.
“AMD believes customer collaboration and an open ecosystem are
fundamental to accelerating AI innovation. By co-developing solutions
with partners, such as Nokia in their AI networking innovation lab, we
ensure our AMD enterprise AI solutions are tested with Nokia data center
switches on real-world workloads and network demands. An open,
standards-driven approach empowers customers to integrate seamlessly
across heterogeneous environments, avoiding lock-in and fostering
industry-wide advancement in AI,” said Travis Karr, Corporate Vice
President, HPC and Sovereign AI, AMD.
Validation: This positions the lab as the testing ground for Nokia
Validated Designs, where customers and partners rigorously validate
multi-vendor data center architectures under authentic AI training and
inference workloads. By testing failure scenarios, congestion behavior,
and operational automation, the lab turns NVDs into proven, deployable
solutions — enabling predictable performance, faster deployment, and
reduced operational complexity and risk for organizations navigating the
AI era.
“Nokia is a strategic networking partner for Nscale as we build
towards AI Grid, and the engineering rigour behind their Validated
Designs reflects the kind of innovation needed to enable next-generation
AI infrastructure. The depth of hardware, software and failure testing
behind those blueprints is what will give operators the confidence to
deploy complex AI environments faster, with fewer integration risks and
less operational disruption. We’re excited to collaborate in the AI
Networking Innovation Lab to help push the boundaries of AI-native
networking and validate the next generation of solutions before they
reach production,” said Arno van Huyssteen, Vice President of Global
Telecommunications for Nscale.
The AI Networking Innovation Lab supports Nokia’s broader strategy to
accelerate the next era of AI-driven connectivity. As demand for AI
infrastructure continues to grow, data center networking has become one
of the most critical foundations of the global AI ecosystem. Through
this investment, Nokia is strengthening its capabilities in AI and cloud
infrastructure while advancing its vision of AI-native networking.
“The launch of Nokia’s AI Networking Innovation Lab marks a major
milestone in our commitment to drive the next era of AI-native
connectivity. As the industry continues to evolve with solutions like
scale-across and AI-Grid, this lab is poised to accelerate AI networking
technology that will not only support but optimize these emerging
industry offerings. This center gives our customers and partners early
access to new technologies, deeper collaboration with the world’s
leading AI ecosystem players, and the confidence that their networks are
validated under more realistic AI conditions. By accelerating innovation
and reducing deployment risks, we’re enabling the industry to deliver
faster, more reliable, and more sustainable AI experiences to people and
businesses everywhere,” said Rudy Hoebeke, Vice President of Software
Product Management at Nokia.
Multimedia, technical information and related news
Webpage: AI Networking Innovation Lab [2]
Blog: Building the future of AI-native networks | Nokia [3]
Webpage: Data Center Networks Design Hub for Nokia NFVs [4]
Webpage: Nokia Data Center Networks [5]
Press Release: Nokia strengthens leadership in AI-ready data center
networks with successful end-to-end Ultra Ethernet test across data
center switch family [6]
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in connectivity for the AI era. With expertise
across fixed, mobile, and transport networks, we’re advancing
connectivity to secure a brighter world.
