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Nokia Appoints Intel’s Justin Hotard as New CEO, Replacing Pekka Lundmark

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Finnish telecommunications company Nokia (NOKIA.HE) announced on Monday that its current CEO, Pekka Lundmark, will step down, with Justin Hotard appointed as his successor. Hotard, who is currently the executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center & AI Group at Intel (INTC.O), will officially take on the role of Nokia’s CEO on April 1.

Telecom equipment manufacturers, including Nokia, have faced declining sales of 5G equipment and are looking to diversify into growing sectors like artificial intelligence (AI). Hotard’s extensive experience in AI and data centers makes him well-suited to lead Nokia’s next phase of growth. Nokia’s Chair Sari Baldauf praised Hotard’s track record of accelerating growth in tech companies and highlighted his expertise as key to Nokia’s future.

The announcement took the market by surprise, with JPMorgan analysts noting that Lundmark had been successful in stabilizing the company. However, they also recognized that the appointment of a new CEO indicated a shift in Nokia’s strategic direction, particularly with a focus on AI and data centers.

Analysts at Inderes echoed this view, noting the leadership change aligns with Nokia’s growing emphasis on its Network Infrastructure unit, which includes investments in AI and data centers. Last year, Nokia moved to acquire U.S. optical networking firm Infinera (INFN.O) in a $2.3 billion deal, aiming to capitalize on the expanding AI-driven data center market.

Lundmark, who has been CEO since 2020, will remain as an advisor to Hotard until the end of the year. The leadership transition had been in planning for some time, according to Nokia, after Lundmark expressed interest in moving on when the company’s repositioning efforts were more advanced.

Shares of Nokia rose 1.6% following the announcement, reflecting optimism about Hotard’s appointment. Despite a 27.85% increase in stock price over the past year, Nokia’s shares are still down more than 90% from their peak in June 2000.

Energy Transfer Signs Long-Term Natural Gas Supply Deal with CloudBurst

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Energy Transfer (ET.N), a leading U.S. pipeline operator, announced a long-term natural gas supply agreement with CloudBurst Data Centers, a private company based in Denver. This deal focuses on supporting the development of CloudBurst’s data center in Central Texas. Shares of Energy Transfer rose by 2.1% following the announcement.

As power demands from AI continue to rise and grid infrastructure advances slowly, many data centers are seeking more direct energy sources, bypassing traditional utilities. This shift is expected to significantly increase natural gas consumption in the coming years.

Under the agreement, Energy Transfer will supply up to 450,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu) of firm natural gas daily through its Oasis Pipeline to CloudBurst’s campus near San Marcos, Texas. The supply is contingent upon CloudBurst making a final investment decision (FID) with its customer. The natural gas will be used to generate nearly 1.2 gigawatts of electric power for the data center’s operations, with the supply set to continue for at least 10 years starting with Phase 1 of the project.

This agreement marks Energy Transfer’s first commercial arrangement to directly supply natural gas to a data center. RBC Capital Markets analyst Elvira Scotto viewed the deal as a promising step for midstream companies looking to expand into the AI and data center sectors.

CloudBurst is expected to make its FID later this year, with the facility potentially becoming operational by the third quarter of 2026.

Iliad to Invest €3.1 Billion in AI Infrastructure Across Europe

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French telecom company Iliad has announced plans to invest €3 billion ($3.1 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, focusing on expanding data centers and computing power across Europe. The investment will be made through its subsidiary OpCore, which manages the group’s 13 data centers. In the short term, OpCore will deploy several hundred megawatts of capacity, with an ambition to reach several gigawatts of capacity over the long term.

This move comes ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, where Iliad is expected to make further announcements regarding its AI strategy. The company has also partnered with Mistral AI, a French AI firm, to offer its “le Chat pro” AI model to Iliad’s 15.5 million subscribers in France.

While Europe has been trailing the U.S. and China in AI development, with the U.S. investing through initiatives like President Donald Trump’s Stargate program, Iliad’s investment is a significant step in bolstering the region’s AI capabilities. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, speaking on the matter, has also encouraged Europe to adopt AI and expressed openness to replicating successful U.S. programs, such as Stargate, in Europe.