• Nvidia shakes off trade hurdle concerns
• Telus outlines massive infrastructure investment plan
• Bell Canada unveils its AI Fabric infrastructure roadmap

In today’s industry news roundup: Despite trade hurdles, Nvidia posts soaring revenues driven by global AI demand; Telus pledges CAN $70bn to expand networks and build sovereign AI factories in Canada; Bell Canada is also investing in facilities to support sovereign AI in the country; and much more!

The Nvidia train hasn’t been derailed by tariffs, trade hurdles or a pause in datacentre investments by some major players, if the AI chip vendor giant’s fiscal first-quarter financial results are anything to go by. Even though the company was unable to ship $2.5bn worth of its H20 chips to China because of new US government rules, Nvidia still reported revenues of $44.1bn, up by 69% year on year, for the three months to 27 April. Of those sales, $39.1bn (up by 73% year on year) came from datacentre products. Total group operating profit came in at $21.64bn, up by 28% year on year, while the vendor’s net profit of $18.78bn was up 26%. The impact of the H20 trade restrictions will hit harder in the current financial quarter that ends in late July, with Nvidia noting that the rules will result in the loss of $8bn of sales: Despite that, the company still expects to report revenues of around $45bn. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, stated: “Global demand for Nvidia’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong. AI inference token generation has surged tenfold in just one year, and as AI agents become mainstream, the demand for AI computing will accelerate. Countries around the world are recognising AI as essential infrastructure – just like electricity and the internet – and Nvidia stands at the centre of this profound transformation.” The CEO added: “Our breakthrough Blackwell NVL72 AI supercomputer – a ‘thinking machine’ designed for reasoning – is now in full-scale production across system makers and cloud service providers.” The results were better than expected and sent Nvidia’s share price up by more than 6% to $143.20 in pre-market trading on Thursday. Nvidia is an increasingly important partner for telecom operators as they develop their AI infrastructure and services plans, including the deployment of so-called AI factories and provision of sovereign AI services. Speaking of which…

Canadian network operator Telus, which is one of a growing number of telcos building AI factories (datacentres designed for AI workloads) based on Nvidia technology, has outlined plans to invest more than CAN $70bn (US$50.6bn) over the next five years “to expand and enhance its network infrastructure and operations across Canada.” Those investments include the capital expenditure it has planned for the expansion of its fibre broadband access and 5G networks as well as the two sovereign AI factories it is currently building in Kamloops and Rimouski. “These secure facilities provide Canadian businesses and researchers [with] access to cutting-edge technology, ensuring every piece of data, computation and breakthrough created will remain within our borders,” noted the operator. The telco’s president and CEO, Darren Entwistle, stated: “The $70bn investment we are making across Canada transcends traditional connectivity; it is powering advanced digital services, fuelling innovation across all sectors of the economy and propelling our productivity as a nation. Moreover, this investment is a cornerstone of Canada’s competitiveness on the global stage, driving critical transformational change and advancing our leadership in Canadian AI sovereignty, innovation and development.” To find out more about the Telus AI strategy, check out this recent exclusive TelecomTV interview with Jaime Tatis, chief insights officer at the Canadian operator – Why Telus is building an AI factory

Telus isn’t the only Canadian telco looking to ride the AI wave, though. Bell Canada has unveiled its Bell AI Fabric strategy that will see the operator invest in a national network of AI infrastructure facilities “starting with a datacentre supercluster in British Columbia that will aim to provide upwards of 500 MW of hydro-electric-powered AI compute capacity across six facilities”, the operator noted in this announcement. The first Bell AI Fabric facility is due to come online next month in partnership with Groq and the launch of its 7 MW AI inference facility in Kamloops, British Columbia. Groq develops and builds hardware specifically designed to accelerate the inference of large language models (LLMs), including its language processing unit (LPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed specifically for AI workloads. Additional AI facilities will come online by the end of 2026, including a 26 MW AI datacentre being built in partnership with Thompson Rivers University (TRU), also in Kamloops. Mirko Bibic, Bell Canada’s president and CEO, stated: “Bell’s AI Fabric will ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers and public institutions can access high-performance, sovereign and environmentally responsible AI computing services. Through this investment, Bell is immediately bolstering Canada’s sovereign AI compute capacity, while laying the groundwork to continue growing our AI economy. This is transformational for our customers, for Canada and for Bell.” Sovereign AI is hot in Canada right now – I wonder why? 

Singapore-based Circles is targeting initial public offerings (IPOs) of its two main units, its telecom software-as-a-service operation and its virtual mobile operator Circles.Life, on the Nasdaq and Singapore stock exchanges respectively, the company’s co-founder and CEO Rameez Ansar told The Straits Times. The public listings, which will depend on market conditions and regulatory approvals, could happen within the next two years if the conditions are favourable, he noted. 

– The staff, TelecomTV