Podcast Summary: The Last Invention is AI

Episode: NestAI Completes €100M Funding, Nokia Joins to Improve Defense Analytics
Date: November 21, 2025
Host: Jaden Schaefer

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Jaden Schaefer delves into the significance of NestAI—a Finnish AI company—raising €100 million and forming a strategic partnership with Nokia, focusing on AI systems for defense and national security in Europe. The conversation explores the resurgence of AI in defense, the geopolitical stakes, and how Europe is positioning itself amid global AI militarization.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. AI and Defense: Shifting Attitudes in Europe

• Historically, partnerships between tech firms and defense agencies in Europe have been controversial due to ethical concerns.
• Jaden notes a shift: “I think right now we see that there definitely are foreign adversaries that are willing to invade countries and you need to have the technology to fight against that.” (01:10)
• The renewed focus is largely driven by current geopolitical tensions and the need for technological sovereignty, especially highlighted by the Ukraine conflict.

2. NestAI’s Mission and Finland’s Motivation

• NestAI aims to build sovereign, secure AI foundation models intended for European defense use.
• These models are designed to operate offline, encrypted end-to-end, and capable of deployment in remote and battlefield environments.
• The strategic shift is informed by Finland’s proximity to Russia and its recent NATO membership:
  “For Finland right now, creating this kind of secure AI is not a nice to have. It's definitely critical for their national survival.” (04:15)
• The emphasis is on privacy, operational independence from cloud providers in the US or China, and robust battlefield performance.

3. Strategic Partnership: Nokia’s Role

• Nokia brings a legacy of secure communications infrastructure and trusted relationships with European governments:
  “Nokia...still control a lot of communications networks and a lot of infrastructure and defense systems depend on these networks. Nokia already powers all of those, so merging out with AI is a really easy fit.” (06:32)
• The partnership is pivotal because Nokia is well-positioned to operationalize AI at the edge, beyond centralized data centers.

4. Europe’s Race for AI Independence

• Jaden emphasizes that the move is about Europe catching up in what’s becoming an AI arms race:
  “AI and defense is becoming an arms race. Right now every major power is funneling billions of dollars into AI military applications.” (08:00)
• The US has Palantir, Scale AI, Anduril, and partnerships with OpenAI; China is tightly integrating its military-AI ecosystem; Israel and the UAE are also advancing rapidly.
• Europe, by comparison, “historically has been sort of slow and bureaucratic...more of a focus on AI safety than on AI capabilities.” (08:45)
• Finland's decisive investment signals a new era in European AI militarization.

5. Technical Focus: AI for Real-World Defense

• NestAI’s models are tailored to the physical realities of defense:
  • Run in offline, low-power, “data-center-less” environments
  • Encrypted large language models for intelligence analysis
  • Autonomous detection systems for drones and border sensors
• Jaden highlights:
  “They're building models that work offline in low power environments and without massive data centers. This is really big…” (11:30)
• The intent is to provide resilience and rapid response capabilities at the true edge of the theater of operations.

6. Investment and Future Projections

• The €100 million investment, though unusually high for a European defense startup, reflects “investors betting really big that defense AI is about to explode.” (13:20)
• Jaden foresees:
  • More European countries announcing sovereign defense AI models
  • NATO devising joint AI standards
  • Direct partnerships between defense contractors and AI labs (as seen with the US DoD and OpenAI)
• He concludes:
  “AI now is, is as essential as fighter jets, satellites and missile defense systems. So whoever builds the best models is definitely going to shape the future and the battlefield.” (15:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shifting European attitudes:
  “I’m happy that this is kind of coming back to the forefront… this is no longer voodoo or taboo.” (01:50)

• On Finland’s urgency:
  “This... is not a nice to have. It's definitely critical for their national survival. They're seeing what happened in the Ukraine...” (04:15)

• On the importance of private, sovereign AI:
  “The countries that secure their own sovereign AI models are going to have a really big advantage over countries that are outsourcing everything, right? You can't outsource all of your data, all of your AI, all of your technology to other countries.” (05:07)

• On the arms race:
  “AI and defense is becoming an arms race. ...the best AI is going to win the next geopolitical era.” (08:00)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:10 – Defense and tech partnerships: history and resurgence in Europe
• 04:15 – Finland's motivation and the strategic importance of sovereign AI
• 06:32 – Why Nokia is an ideal partner for NestAI
• 08:00 – The global AI defense arms race context
• 11:30 – NestAI’s technical innovations: offline and low-power AI models
• 13:20 – Investment significance and future European moves
• 15:30 – Closing remarks on AI’s role in future defense

Conclusion

This episode provides a deep dive into the intersection of European defense, AI sovereignty, and geopolitics. With substantial funding and a pivotal partnership, NestAI is not only signaling Europe’s seriousness about AI in national security, but also inspiring other countries to accelerate their own sovereign defense AI solutions. As Jaden puts it:
“Whoever builds the best models is definitely going to shape the future and the battlefield.” (15:30)