Nokia CEO says data centers would be built '2x faster' without supply constraints

Key PointsNokia CEO says AI data center demand remains strong despite supply constraints.AI customers would build data centers “2x faster” if they could, Hotard says. Nokia sees AI infrastructure growth even without new frontier models, even as labs discuss slowing down the pace of AI development. The tech industry would build data centers twice as fast without the supply constraints they face, the CEO of Nokia told CNBC, underscoring continued demand for AI even as top executives debate slowing down the pace of development. "I don't think you can say in any manner we're overbuilding today because reality is that if we could build 2x faster, our customers could build 2x faster, they probably would," Justin Hotard told CNBC's "The Tech Download" podcast."So that gives me confidence that we're still in the early days" of the AI buildout, Hotard added.Shortages of key memory chips and energy are among the supply constraints facing the sector. Nokia, one of the world's biggest telecommunications equipment makers, has pivoted to become a key player within the AI infrastructure space. It sells the technology required to connect racks of chips within data centers as well as technology that interconnects data centers across different locations.Nokia's growing role as a "picks and shovels" player in the AI boom appears to have won over investors, with the stock up around 130% over the past year.Stock Chart IconStock chart iconNokia 1-year stock chart.But there's been continued debate over whether the industry is building data centers too fast and whether demand will be there to sustain it. Investments in the AI buildout from data centers to chips and related infrastructure will total $10.3 trillion from 2025 to 2032 — an average of 3.63% of U.S. gross domestic product per year, according to research presented at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Companies are using debt, joint ventures and other complex financing mechanisms to raise investment for these projects, which depend on sustained demand for AI services over the long term.Concerns about the pace of the AI buildout were exacerbated by safety worries sparked by an Anthropic researcher's warnings on the existential threat of the technology, which prompted the company's CEO Dario Amodei to call for a slowdown in the development of the most advanced models.That sparked a knee-jerk sell off in AI-related stocks last month. Finnish technology and telecommunication company Nokia's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, October 28, 2025.Seppo Samuli | ReutersHotard said that demand for AI is not just predicated on frontier labs like Anthropic and OpenAI releasing new models. "I think the reality is that we're even where we are today is so early in the deployment, and the power of these models is so massive that there's a lot of there's a lot of demand to run in just deploying," Hotard said. "Even if we didn't have another frontier model released in the next three years, we could probably make tremendous progress just deploying the technology that's there today."Read more data center newsAmerica’s data center fight is a preview of what’s to come for the rest of the worldSpaceX launches Google AI chips into orbit in push toward space-based data centersAI data centers are transforming rural land markets — and fueling a backlashNvidia plays matchmaker in Nordics, sources tell CNBC, as AI data center deals boom in regionAnthropic and OpenAI hunt for smaller data center deals, sources tell CNBC, in race to deploy AI capacityBill to curb AI data center utility costs hits snag in SenateThe AI boom is colliding with a new threat: Severe weatherDigital Realty falls 5% after taking $3.5 billion stake in Blackstone’s Virginia data centersAnthropic’s latest hiring spree reveals where it’s building AI data centers nextNo one wants AI data centers on Earth. Do they make sense in space?Why AI demand is pushing data centers to the edge of EuropeDenmark faces data center reckoning as power grid overwhelmed by surging demandMajor data center company pauses investment decisions in Middle East amid Iran war, CEO tells CNBCAnthropic looks to hire six-figure role for negotiating data center deals to fuel Europe AI expansionAI data center boom ‘stress tests’ insurers as private capital floods inData center expansion reaches an ‘inflection point’How the AI debt binge shattered hyperscalers’ ‘unspoken contract’ with investorsPowering AI: Europe switches on its first microgrid-connected data centerHow the red-hot AI data center boom is igniting demand for a new, lucrative career path: Trade workersDust to data centers: The year AI tech giants, and billions in debt, began remaking the American landscapeQuantum’s big leap puts data centers in the spotlightData center deals hit record $61 billion in 2025 amid construction frenzy