Palo Alto Unveils ‘Secure by Design’ AI Data Centres

Palo Alto Networks has announced an expanded security ecosystem designed to protect ‘AI Factories’, which the company presents as the backbone of digital infrastructure. 

From high-performance data centre environments to the autonomous edge, the new security ecosystem aims to secure sovereign AI without compromising performance.

Revealed at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, the initiative brings together collaborations with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris and Celerway. The aim is to secure both the physical and digital foundations of AI infrastructure, spanning hyperscale data centres, telecom networks and distributed edge sites.

As AI workloads demand multi-terabit throughput and dense compute clusters, operators are rethinking not only power and cooling but also embedded security at every layer of the stack.

“We are establishing the secure foundation for the AI economy through extensive ecosystem collaboration,” says Anand Oswal, Executive Vice President at Palo Alto Networks. 

“By seamlessly integrating our AI-powered security services directly from the datacenter into the most vital 5G and IoT networks globally, we are ensuring the AI Factory is secure by design. 

“These partnerships enable us to create a secure digital infrastructure capable of managing the multi-terabit throughput required for training AI models.”

Securing sovereign AI data centres

A central component of the announcement is a collaboration with Nokia to support the rise of European AI gigafactories. The partnership combines Nokia’s AI data centre infrastructure with Palo Alto Networks’ security platforms.

The two companies are positioning the joint architecture to address data sovereignty requirements alongside performance and scalability. As European operators build large-scale AI facilities, validated frameworks that extend security from the network layer into workloads are becoming a priority.

“In the race to build the world's AI Factories, you cannot leave the door open at the infrastructure layer,” says Greg Dorai, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IP Networks at Nokia. 

“Nokia and Palo Alto Networks jointly envision comprehensive architectural and operational frameworks that expand security solutions from the network layer to workloads. 

“The validated architecture will allow our customers to build future-proof, sovereign data centres. We aren't just providing connectivity, we are protecting the physical and digital integrity of industrial digitisation at scale.”

Extending protection to 5G and IoT

Beyond core data centres, Palo Alto Networks is extending its ecosystem into telecom and IoT environments that feed data into AI platforms – including new partnerships with U Mobile, Aeris and Celerway Communication.

In Malaysia, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with 5G provider U Mobile to collaborate on a network embedded Security as a Service offering. By integrating next-generation firewalls and AI-driven security directly into 4G and 5G infrastructure, the partners aim to provide built-in protection for consumers and enterprises.

The Aeris partnership focuses on large-scale IoT deployments. By integrating Aeris IoT Watchtower with Prisma SASE 5G, enterprises can apply data loss prevention and zero trust policies to millions of wireless devices from a single control point. For sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail and utilities, this reduces the attack surface created by connected devices supplying data to AI systems.

Celerway Communication adds a further dimension by extending data centre class protection to distributed edge environments. Integration with Palo Alto Networks VM Series Next Generation Firewalls enables 5G edge devices used by first responders and remote teams to maintain encrypted data integrity and consistent security posture, even in high mobility or remote locations.

Building security into AI infrastructure

The combined ecosystem reflects a shift in how operators approach AI factory design. High-performance clusters, liquid-cooled racks and dense interconnects are only part of the equation. Securing training pipelines, inference services and data flows from edge to core are all emerging as core considerations.

By aligning data centre security platforms with telecom networks and IoT management layers, Palo Alto Networks and its partners are seeking to embed security controls directly into AI infrastructure builds.

For organisations investing in sovereign AI capacity, the approach centres on validated architectures that integrate network, workload and edge protection within a single framework.