Nokia, Nvidia accelerate AI-RAN, physical AI commercial deployment - Computer Weekly

Nvidia is extending its "AI factory" playbook from data centers into the radio access layer, fundamentally rewriting the baseband chip paradigm. Deterministic signal processing yields to probabilistic neural inference, systematically compressing the profit pool of DSP incumbents like Qualcomm and Broadcom. Physical AI at the edge delivers sub-10ms inference for industrial robotics and autonomous logistics without cloud round-trips. The Nokia-Nvidia pairing is a precision geopolitical play: a Finnish-US "trusted supplier" stack explicitly engineered to counter Huawei's decade-long integrated baseband-plus-AI dominance. The cost: Nokia deepens exposure to US export control regimes, eroding supply chain resilience. 3GPP O-RAN standardization is now a de facto geopolitical battleground. Competitive response: Huawei will accelerate proprietary AI-RAN commercialization across APAC and emerging markets, leveraging vertical integration cost advantages. Ericsson, if it stays on the Intel GPU path, faces a direct "Nvidia vs Intel" collision at the edge. Samsung's chip-plus-network vertical integration remains the hardest variable to model. 12-24 month call: AI-RAN transitions from 2025 pilots to 2026 US/EU scale deployment. Physical AI (humanoid robots, autonomous systems) becomes the primary capex driver for telcos. The structural shift: operators pivot from "pipe" to "AI service provider," fundamentally rewriting their P&L architecture.