Nokia's tour of China continues with China Mobile 5G AI partnership

Nokia has expanded its relationship with the world’s largest mobile operator China Mobile to jointly develop artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capability on 5G.

It has been busy days at Nokia. One day after its collaboration with Tencent was announced, Nokia’s new R&D related MOU in China is focused on AI and machine learning in 5G environment, and this time the joint lab will be located in Hangzhou, east China. China Mobile will define use cases as well as standardise the open APIs for third party partners, while Nokia will develop and verify demo solutions using its 5G technologies including its Cloud RAN and open edge server.

China is aiming to lead the world’s AI industry. A national strategy for AI was developed in July 2017, which was followed by a working level conference at the end of year. A policy paper was published earlier this year, providing guidelines to industries and businesses on how to advance China’s AI capabilities in the years to come. As one of the largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs), China Mobile shoulders the expectations to lead the charge. Tying this R&D partnership with Nokia will help.

This is also a good move by Nokia, not the least because of the importance of market, and the level of investment expected out of China into AI and machine learning using the 5G technologies. What Nokia will take away from the partnership will potentially help enhance its capabilities when meeting other customers.

But here is the catch. Machines learn by being fed with large amount of data. However, no operators in the world, China Mobile included, can guarantee their data accurately reflect what is happening on the networks. The margin of errors varies, some operators’ data is up to 40 per cent off the mark, by their own admission. Which will seriously compromise the intelligence generated artificially.