Nokia Roars Back as Finland’s AI Champion

Finland’s stock market hit its highest level since December 2000, driven by a dramatic rally in Nokia as the former mobile-phone giant remakes itself around artificial intelligence and data networks.

The OMX Helsinki PI index climbed to 14,222 points over the weekend, passing a level not seen since the height of Nokia’s old telecom dominance at the start of the millennium.

At the center of the surge is Nokia, whose shares have jumped by about 150% over the past year, rising from roughly €5.50 at the beginning of the year to around €13.30.

The company’s comeback is not being powered by mobile phones, the business once synonymous with the Nokia name. Instead, investors are betting on Nokia’s role in AI infrastructure, advanced data networks and next-generation connectivity for data centers.

Nokia has become a strategic partner for major technology companies, including Nvidia, which invested $1 billion in a partnership focused on developing next-generation AI networks.

The shift places Nokia at the center of one of the most important technology races in the world, as companies and governments compete to build the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence.

The company’s revival also carries geopolitical weight. Finland has drawn closer to Washington and joined the US-led “Pax Silica” initiative aimed at protecting strategic technology supply chains, a move that goes beyond the European Union’s official line.

Nokia sold its mobile-phone division to Microsoft in 2014, ending the era in which its handsets dominated global markets. But the company has remained one of Finland’s most important industrial engines.

Its current comeback is now being viewed in Finland as more than a corporate turnaround. For many, it recalls Nokia’s role in helping pull the country out of the deep recession of the 1990s, this time with AI infrastructure replacing the legendary 3310.