Nokia launches AI Networking Innovation Lab with partners
Nokia launched its AI Networking Innovation Lab in Sunnyvale, California, to work with AI and cloud partners on the development and validation of data center networking technologies used for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
In the lab, Nokia focuses on how technologies are integrated, tested, and deployed for large-scale AI training and distributed, real-time inference. The initiative also positions the lab as a setting for developing and validating emerging commercial technologies in the networking environment.
The lab brings together AI networking protocols, switching silicon, and hardware platforms, along with architectural concepts designed for data centers. Nokia described three pillars for the center: Technology Innovation, Ecosystem Collaboration, and Validation.
Nokia said the lab supports testing for interoperability and multi-vendor validation through Nokia Validated Designs, using AI training and inference workloads and testing failure scenarios, congestion behavior, and operational automation. It cited early technology partners including AMD, Everpure, Keysight, Lenovo, Nscale, Supermicro and Weka.
“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. “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. “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 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.