Podcast Summary: NestAI Raises €100M and Works With Nokia on Defense AI Upgrades

Podcast: The Joe Rogan Experience Fan
Host: Jaden Schaefer
Date: November 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into Finland’s NestAI, which recently raised €100 million and partnered with Nokia to develop sovereign, secure AI systems for European defense and national security. Host Jaden Schaefer discusses the significance of NestAI’s emergence, the strategic context motivating Europe’s move toward homegrown AI, and the evolving arms race in defense technology, with a particular eye on Europe’s efforts to reduce dependence on American and Chinese tech giants.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Significance of NestAI’s Funding and Partnership with Nokia

• [01:27] Jaden highlights how NestAI “just essentially came out of nowhere and suddenly it's positioned itself as one of the most important defense companies in, or, you know, defense startups in Europe.”
• The €100M funding signals serious EU intent to innovate rather than relying on US or Chinese models.
• NestAI’s strategic partnership with Nokia leverages Nokia’s trusted communications infrastructure and relationships with European governments.
  • “[Nokia] controls a lot of secure communications infrastructure ... so merging with AI as a really easy fit.” (Jaden Schaefer, [04:45])

2. European Motivations for Sovereign AI

• Finland’s unique position—long border with Russia, recent NATO membership, rapid defense modernization—makes sovereign and secure AI “not a nice to have. It's definitely critical for their national survival.” ([03:15])
• Host discusses historical reticence in Europe to work with defense, referencing Google’s employee backlash in the US as contrast.

3. Technical Focus & Advantage

• NestAI specializes in:
  • Secure, sovereign foundation models for European militaries and governments.
  • Offline, encrypted, edge-deployable systems—critical for military use in remote, low-bandwidth environments.
  • Real-time surveillance and vision models, intelligence analysis, decision support, and autonomous detection for drones/sensors.
    • “They're creating models that the European government and the militaries can run privately, so they're not depending on America or China...” ([03:00])
• The departure from public cloud LLMs enables sensitive operations without “trickling any data back to Silicon Valley or any other countries.” ([03:45])

4. Broader Context: Global Defense AI Race

• All major powers are making huge AI defense investments:
  • US (Palantir, Anduril, Shield AI, OpenAI/DoD)
  • China’s tight military-industry integration
  • Israel’s autonomous systems
  • UAE’s sovereign Falcon model
• “AI and defense is becoming an arms race. ... the best AI is going to win the next geopolitical era.” ([06:00])
• Europe is late due to “bureaucratic,” “overregulated” focus on safety over capabilities, but Finland is leading a shift.

5. Strategic Implications

• Offline and low-power AI models represent the next necessary leap—“AI that works in the field and not just at some big data center in the desert somewhere.” ([08:10])
• Investors are betting big: “They put a hundred million dollars in... betting really big that defense AI is about to explode.” ([09:05])
• The battlefield is becoming digital, with nations seeing AI as essential as fighter jets.

6. What Comes Next

• Prediction that Europe will soon see:

  • More sovereign defense AI models
  • Joint NATO AI standards
  • More direct partnerships between defense companies and AI labs
  • Rapid growth of autonomous surveillance
  • Each country building its own secure, private LLMs

  “At the end of the day, AI now 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.” (Jaden Schaefer, [11:55])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “For Finland right now, creating this kind of secure AI is not a nice to have. It's definitely critical for their national survival.” – Jaden Schaefer ([03:15])
• “Countries that secure their own sovereign AI models are going to have a really big advantage over countries that are outsourcing everything.” – Jaden Schaefer ([03:45])
• “AI and defense is becoming an arms race. Right now every major power is funneling billions of dollars into AI military applications.” – Jaden Schaefer ([06:00])
• “NestAI is designing an AI that works in the field and... not just at some big data center in the desert somewhere.” – Jaden Schaefer ([08:10])
• “At the end of the day, AI now 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.” – Jaden Schaefer ([11:55])

Important Timestamps

• 01:27 — Start of discussion on NestAI and the context of European defense AI.
• 03:00-03:45 — Importance of sovereign, secure foundation models for Europe/Finland.
• 04:45 — Nokia partnership relevance and infrastructure strength.
• 06:00 — Framing the global AI defense race.
• 08:10 — Technical focus: offline/edge AI for battlefield operations.
• 09:05 — Investor perspective and funding significance.
• 11:55 — Predictions for the future and strategic implications.

Tone & Final Thoughts

Jaden presents with a balanced mix of urgency and insight, framing Finland’s NestAI as emblematic of a larger European pivot toward self-reliance and digital modernization in defense. The episode underscores the accelerating “arms race” in military AI and predicts that the outcome could redefine future geopolitics and security.

For those following the intersection of AI, business, and defense, this episode provides both comprehensive analysis and a forward-looking roadmap of what’s next in European tech sovereignty.