This Former Smartphone Maker Has Quietly Become a Top AI Stock

Nokia has surged 130% over the past year, transforming from a former smartphone manufacturer into an AI infrastructure play through its AI-RAN (artificial intelligence radio access networks) technology. The company's AI and cloud segment posted 49% growth in Q1, capturing momentum as telecom providers upgrade to enable real-time AI inference at the network edge.

Nvidia's $1 billion investment has provided both capital and validation for Nokia's pivot. The partnership positions Nokia to compete for a share of the projected $35 billion AI-RAN market over the next five years as carriers worldwide modernize infrastructure to support AI workloads closer to end users rather than routing all processing through centralized data centers.

AI-RAN represents a shift in how mobile networks handle compute-intensive tasks, embedding intelligence directly into radio access equipment. For Nokia, this moves the company away from commoditized telecom hardware into higher-margin software and AI-enabled systems that telecom operators need to deliver low-latency services for autonomous vehicles, industrial IoT, and other edge applications.