Nscale pitches “Sovereign AI” to telecom operators to provide AI-as-a-service (AIaaS)

Nscale [1.], headquartered in London, UK, is suggesting that telecom networks host “Sovereign AI” infrastructure, to ensure that data remains within regional borders while driving efficiency and automation. The company is collaborating with Nokia to accelerate global AI infrastructure deployment and is showcasing these solutions at MWC 2026.  The company is partnering with telecom operators to transform their existing national fiber and edge sites into high-performance AI data centers. They aim to leverage telco assets to deliver GPU-powered AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), optimize their 5G networks, and support AI-driven analytics.

Note 1. Nscale is building the advanced infrastructure, systems and solutions that enables practitioners, enterprises, and governments across the globe to create, deploy, and scale their most transformative AI systems.  Nscale’s AI Compute offering provides on-demand access to high-performance GPUs, enabling businesses and developers to execute complex computational tasks like AI model training and data analysis without the need for upfront investment in expensive hardware. Nscale is building its own high-density data centers with direct liquid cooling to support these initiatives.

Nscale says they are “empowering telecommunications providers to deliver a range of AI services and solutions which help support network optimization and network performance monitoring, alongside improving customer experience with AI-powered automation tools. With our scalable GPU infrastructure and AI expertise, our telco customers can provide industry-leading AI-as-a-service (AIaaS), scale for 5G and benefit from artificial intelligence.”

Last week at the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN)’s AI & Advanced Connectivity: State of AI panel, Nscale’s Simon Rowell spoke about the importance of building infrastructure that is resilient and able to adapt over time. Technologies evolve, but what matters is whether the underlying infrastructure can accommodate that change. Across telco networks and digital services, the fundamentals remain consistent: efficiency, automation, productivity, and resilience.  Nscale is focused on building flexible AI infrastructure that can support real services as requirements change.

UK Telecoms Innovation Network Panel Session State of AI in UK Telecoms.    Photo Credit: Nscale

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Nokia and Nscale are collaborating to accelerate the development of AI-ready data center infrastructure across Europe and globally. As part of this partnership, Nokia serves as the preferred networking partner for Nscale, providing IP, optical networking, and data center switching technology to support high-performance AI clusters.  Key aspects of the collaboration include:

  • Infrastructure Build-out: Nokia is supplying its 7220 IXR and 7750 SR platforms to support Nscale’s AI-ready data centers, including a key project in Stavanger, Norway, and a 50 MW AI Campus in Loughton, U.K..
  • Strategic Investment: Nokia is an investor in Nscale’s Series B funding round, supporting the company’s expansion and the deployment of up to 300,000 GPUs.
  • Technology & Innovation: The partnership focuses on co-developing networking stacks for AI clusters, utilizing Nokia’s Ethernet-based data center fabric for low-latency, high-performance computing. Sustainability
  • Focus: The collaboration emphasizes energy-efficient cooling and 100% renewable energy for data center operations. Nokia Nokia +4

David Power CTO at Nscale said, “Our mission is to redefine the boundaries of AI and High-Performance Computing through innovative, sustainable solutions. Nokia’s data center fabric enables us to scale our GPU clusters while maintaining the reliability and performance needed to serve our customers with cutting-edge AI services. The flexibility of Nokia’s solution ensures we can bring advanced AI capabilities to market faster.”

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References:

https://www.nscale.com/about

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nscale-cloud_last-week-at-uktinsai-advanced-connectivity-activity-7419006446308139008-Tvvc/

https://www.nokia.com/customer-success/nokia-building-ip-network-to-support-ai-workloads-at-nscales-new-sustainable-data-center/

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