• Telia had already brokered a sovereign AI partnership with infrastructure investor Brookfield
• Now Swedish tech university KTH has been added to the mix
• The partners will develop an AI testbed where KTH can trial sovereign applications

Telia and infrastructure asset management firm Brookfield Partners have added KTH Royal Institute of Technology to their existing partnership that is focused on the development of sovereign AI services and solutions for the Swedish market.

The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding that builds on an existing agreement between Telia and Brookfield and will see the Nordic telco operate and deliver sovereign AI services on top of Brookfield’s AI infrastructure in Sweden. Now though, KTH, the country’s largest technical university, has been added to the mix to enhance the potential and bring AI expertise to the collaboration.

Together, the partners aim to develop and offer scalable sovereign AI capabilities as they look to address growing demand from Swedish businesses and organisations across sectors including healthcare, education, manufacturing and critical infrastructure. These will include services built on large language models and software that is being developed by the KTH team.

The sovereign AI services will be developed and delivered by Telia’s systems integration (SI) division, Telia Cygate, which recently established a dedicated unit for sovereign AI and featured in TelecomTV’s recent free-to-download report, Digital Sovereignty: What It Means for Telcos.

Patrik Hofbauer, Telia’s president and CEO, stated: “Building sovereign tech capabilities is a matter of urgency for Sweden and Europe, and smart partnerships are how we make it happen.

“Telia’s secure and resilient services make us a trusted partner for entire societies; KTH’s outstanding research is putting Swedish innovation on the global map; and Brookfield have announced major investments in Sweden’s AI infrastructure. Together, we intend to accelerate cutting-edge technologies that enable new value for customers and competitiveness for our region.”

Brookfield has already unveiled plans to invest up to 95bn krona (SEK) (around $10bn) in Swedish AI infrastructure, with its plan centred on the development of a major AI datacentre with a capacity of up to 750 MW (megawatts) located in Strängnäs “to support the country’s national AI strategy”.

Sikander Rashid, head of AI Infrastructure at Brookfield, noted: “The addition of KTH reinforces the partnership between Brookfield and Telia, and marks another important step in supporting Sweden’s ambition to become a leader in AI. As demand for AI services continues to grow across Europe, success will depend on a strong ecosystem that brings together infrastructure, connectivity and innovation.”

The partnership also opens up a number of opportunities for KTH, which is Sweden’s oldest technical university, with around 17,000 students. The Stockholm-based institution will work with Telia and Brookfield to explore the development of an AI test bed where new AI ventures can be developed and trialled, offering researchers greater access to cutting-edge AI models and helping entrepreneurs bring solutions to the market at a quicker pace.

According to the technical university’s president, Anders Söderholm, “KTH is working across departments, disciplines and research areas to develop the expertise and capabilities required to influence the future of the AI revolution. This makes us an ideal university partner in this transformative technology. Our collaboration with Telia and Brookfield will help create a sovereign AI ecosystem that can strengthen both Sweden and Europe.”

 - James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV