How Nokia is Championing Global AI Standards

AI is set to redefine the world as we know it, delivering powerful solutions to some of humanity’s most complex challenges.

Yet, as with any transformative technology, its progression is shadowed by concerns of control and consistency.

“Artificial intelligence holds immense promise and opportunity to solve some of our most pressing and complex problems,” explains Nokia experts Peter Merz and Karina Palyutina.

“Due to its potential power, many believe that it should be developed with regulatory oversight and guardrails in place.”

The result is a growing patchwork of AI governance globally, carrying the risk of fragmentation and uneven progress.

History offers a clear cautionary lesson. The early electrical industry, evolving in silos, left behind a legacy of incompatible plugs and uneven voltage standards.

As Peter and Karina ask: “If AI is indeed the electricity of the 21st century, does it risk a similar fate?”

Fortunately, the telecommunications industry provides a far more unifying and forward-looking model.

Since the creation of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 1865, the industry has championed global cooperation and interoperability.

In light of World Standards Day, it is a fitting moment to consider how the same commitment to standards could once again guide us—this time toward a unified, AI-powered future.

The global regulatory patchwork

Governments around the world continue to wrestle with how best to regulate AI, their strategies shaped by differing priorities—from human-centric principles to the pursuit of rapid innovation.

The outcome is a fragmented regulatory landscape: the EU pursues a unified AI Act, while the US sees varied approaches across individual states.

Meanwhile, Brazil is pushing forward its own legislation, and China progresses with a distinctly separate action plan.

For global organisations, this divergence presents a considerable challenge to consistency and compliance.

“Companies with global operations face a difficult challenge in reconciling the complex and evolving regulatory landscape and conducting their compliance obligations coherently across potentially conflicting requirements,” the experts note.

To keep innovation from becoming trapped in a web of regulatory complexity, a shared language is essential.

This is where global standards organisations such as the International Standards Organization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) step in – offering frameworks that connect diverse regulatory and ethical perspectives.

They are, as the Nokia team notes,, “the missing link for innovative and responsible adoption of AI”.

Standards as the unifying force

It is important to recognise that standards differ fundamentally from regulations.

Rather than imposing rules, they establish a consensus-based foundation to guide and align regulatory approaches.

The push for global AI standards is not about replacing national legislation but about enabling more cohesive and constructive dialogue around it – a crucial distinction for the telecommunications community.

“Unlike technical standards, governance standards guide trustworthy AI development, with a focus on non-application-specific elements of AI such as terminology and management frameworks,” Peter and Karina clarify.

The integration of AI into the heart of network technologies – especially as the world advances toward 6G – can be significantly accelerated through early adoption of standardised governance frameworks.

Such alignment would spare individual organisations the burden of navigating a maze of disconnected requirements alone.

The takeaway from the Nokia experts is clear: the telecommunications sector must broaden its perspective and look beyond its traditional boundaries.

“As we look forward to next-generation standards like 6G, we encourage the industry to look beyond telecommunications standards and contribute also to global, multi-stakeholder bodies like ISO and CEN/CENELEC,” they say.

By taking an active role in these foundational discussions, the telecommunications industry can help define a globally trusted and interoperable AI ecosystem.

Such proactive engagement will not only strengthen the sector itself but also ensure that the transformative potential of AI is channelled responsibly across the digital economy – paving the way for collective progress instead of fragmented disruption.