Palo Alto Networks, Nokia, and Others Collaborate to Secure AI Factories

Partnerships aim to protect industrial backbone with data sovereignty and autonomous edge security

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Palo Alto Networks has announced four new collaborations with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris, and Celerway Communication to expand its security ecosystem and protect the industrial backbone. The partnerships focus on securing AI workloads, 5G networks, IoT devices, and edge computing environments.

Why it matters

As AI and autonomous technologies become more prevalent in industrial and manufacturing settings, securing these mission-critical systems is crucial. The collaborations announced by Palo Alto Networks aim to provide comprehensive security solutions that address data sovereignty, network-embedded security, and edge device protection.

The details

Palo Alto Networks and Nokia are positioning their data center security solutions to support the rise of European 'Gigafactories'. By combining Nokia's AI Data Center infrastructure with Palo Alto Networks' AI platforms, customers can scale high-performance AI workloads while achieving data sovereignty. Palo Alto Networks also signed an MoU with Malaysian 5G provider U Mobile to deliver a network-embedded Security-as-a-Service solution. Additionally, the company integrated its Prisma SASE 5G with Aeris IoT Watchtower to apply data loss prevention and zero-trust policies to millions of wireless devices, and partnered with Celerway to enable secure 5G edge computing.

  • The collaborations were announced at Mobile World Congress 2026.

The players

Palo Alto Networks

An American cybersecurity company that provides firewall and cloud-based security solutions.

Nokia

A Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company.

U Mobile

A Malaysian 5G network provider.

Aeris

An IoT solutions provider that offers the Aeris IoT Watchtower platform.

Celerway Communication

A Norwegian company that provides secure 5G edge computing solutions.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

The takeaway

These collaborations demonstrate the growing need for comprehensive security solutions that can protect the industrial backbone, including AI-powered workloads, 5G networks, IoT devices, and edge computing environments. The partnerships aim to provide customers with secure, sovereign, and resilient infrastructure to support the rise of advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies.