- Red Hat and Nvidia launched a turnkey “AI factory” offering that combines the former's software with the latter's hardware and models
- The offering aims to make it easier for enterprises to move AI from pilot to production
- The launch aligns with surging AI investment
They’re not radio DJs but it seems Red Hat and Nvidia are taking requests. Specifically, the pair have launched a new AI factory offering designed in response to enterprise demand for a more turnkey AI deployment experience.
The collaboration pairs Nvidia’s hardware and AI capabilities – including its open Nemotron models – with Red Hat’s AI Enterprise software stack. Red Hat AI Enterprise is a “metal-to-agent” package that combines Red Hat’s Linux, OpenShift Kubernetes and AI inferencing capabilities.
Chris Wright, Red Hat CTO, told Fierce the AI factory platform is designed for enterprises of all shapes and sizes. That includes telcos, which, in addition to running sprawling networks, also operate very traditional looking businesses on the back end, he said. Both of these telco elements – the business and the network – can benefit from AI. The trick is making workload deployment and scaling a breeze.
“The enterprise is looking for high throughput token production with ease of use,” Wright explained. “We’re not expecting everybody to be deep experts in all the details of the AI stack, so they can focus on business transformation.”
The launch comes at a moment when enterprises (including telcos) are looking to accelerate AI deployments but are also re-evaluating their strategies as they push beyond AI pilots into production. Deloitte’s 2026 “State of AI in the Enterprise” report found that while just a quarter of respondents said their company had moved 40% or more of their AI pilots to production so far, 54% of respondents expected to achieve that target in the next three to six months.
As they build the intelligence layer that will power their companies going forward, “a lot of enterprises have to make a fundamental decision: Do I want to rent this or do I want to own this?” Justin Boitano, Nvidia VP of Enterprise AI Platforms, told Fierce.
“I think the platform that we’ve built with Red Hat gives enterprises that flexibility to own what they need to to power their foundational workloads and have the ability to scale into hybrid cloud resources as they need to burst for more capacity,” he continued.
Market movement
Worldwide spending on AI is expected to jump 44% year on year to $2.52 trillion in 2026, according to the latest Gartner data, with AI infrastructure outlay of $1.37 trillion leading spending categories. IDC’s estimate for AI infrastructure spending this year was significantly more conservative, but both firms are predicting significant year on year growth.
In terms of telcos in particular, Nvidia’s recent “State of AI in Telecommunications” survey report found 89% of respondents expect to increase their AI budget in 2026, compared to 65% who said the same for 2025. Interestingly, 89% of respondents also said that open-source models and software are important to their company’s AI strategy.