The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Finland (hereinafter referred to as the “Participants”),

Expressing mutual interest in science and technology capabilities and standards to usher in the next Golden Age of Innovation to fortify freedom and prosperity for generations to come,

Affirming the value of bilateral science and technology collaboration to enrich the lives and livelihoods of citizens in both countries, and to elevate the U.S.-Finland Alliance to a higher level,

Building on the longstanding collaboration established under the existing Agreement Relating to Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Finland, done at Washington May 16, 1995,

Taking note of the Joint Statement of the United States and Finland on Cooperation in Quantum Information Science and Technology and also the Joint Statement of the United States and Finland on Cooperation in Advanced Wireless Communications, and

Recognizing the importance of deepening ties with strategic partners as a means to strengthen stability, security, and competitiveness,

Have reached the following understandings:

I. Purpose

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter “MOU”) is to enable collaboration towards joint opportunities of mutual interest in strategic science and technology disciplines with a focus on strengthening industrial cooperation and accelerating the development, deployment, and adoption of emerging technologies to power the next generation of global connectivity, secure quantum advantage, advance energy leadership, develop advanced semiconductors, strengthen space collaboration, advance an open and secure super intelligence (SI) stack, accelerate secure biotechnology innovation, strengthen research and industrial security, and advance shipbuilding modernization and Arctic technology cooperation.^[1]

II. Areas of Cooperation

The Participants aim to collaborate in a number of disciplines, including but not limited to the following:

Accelerating Development and Diffusion of the Trusted Technology Stack in SI and Connectivity

Recognizing the importance of secure and trusted technology infrastructure to economic prosperity and national security, the Participants intend to deepen cooperation to advance next-generation SI and network technologies. The Participants intend to collaborate on telecommunications R&D, promote and finance the export of trusted technology stacks, and coordinate on international standards development.

Focus areas for collaboration are intended to include:

• Promoting development and exports across the full SI and network technology stack, including hardware, models, software, applications, network equipment, maintenance, long-term customer support, and related standards;
• Partnering to finance trusted technology stack exports and to provide customer support to accelerate adoption in third-party countries by coordinating, as appropriate, applicable U.S. and Finnish financing and commercial diplomacy tools to support competitive deployments in priority third-country markets;
• Shaping telecommunications standards in line with shared priorities through coordinated engagement in international standards bodies including the International Telecommunication Union, the Global Coalition on Telecommunications, and partnership with industry at 3GPP;
• Collaborating to shape resolutions in advance of all major ITU decision-making conferences, including the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference and 2026 ITU Plenipotentiary;
• Strengthening existing research and development in 5G and 6G and next-generation communication technologies through accelerated pathways from research and development to commercial and industrial deployment, and strengthened industrial cooperation; and
• Building trusted, secure, interoperable 5G and 6G supply chains and advocating for policies that accelerate adoption of trusted connectivity infrastructure.

Securing Quantum Advantage

The Participants recognize that quantum technologies are poised to deliver transformative advances across economic and national security domains. Sustained leadership in quantum innovation depends on secure supply chains, strong research and industrial ecosystems, and close collaboration between trusted partners. The Participants intend to deepen cooperation to accelerate the development, commercialization, and responsible deployment of quantum technologies in ways that enhance prosperity and security.

Focus areas for collaboration are intended to include:

• Collaborating through leading quantum institutions and national laboratories to assess quantum performance, develop quantum algorithms, and enable scientific discovery, including by advancing hybrid quantum-classical computing;
• Accelerating commercial deployment of cryogenics, precision instrumentation and semiconductor process engineering firms through regulatory harmonization efforts and targeted investments in Finland and in the United States;
• Supporting the development of the next generation of scientists and engineers through joint research and investments into quantum manufacturing;
• Aligning efforts to secure technology and supply chains and to build a trusted ecosystem for the research, development, and adoption of new quantum technologies;
• Strengthening pathways for information sharing and establishing commercial pipelines between U.S. and Finnish stakeholders to accelerate the commercialization of quantum technologies and bolster the alignment between the two commercial quantum ecosystems;
• Cooperating on trusted quantum ecosystem development by aligning efforts focused on secure quantum supply chains and informing coordinated engagement in Quantum Development Group (QDG), Multilateral Dialogue on Quantum (MDQ), and NATO Transatlantic Quantum Community (TQC) engagement;
• Advancing trusted, interoperable standards for quantum technologies through existing complementary multilateral and bilateral pre-standardization activities as relevant in quantum computing, sensing, and networking; and
• Endorsing and advocating for the adoption of Post-Quantum Cryptographic standards and supporting the migration of systems to those standards, as well as advancing R&D and commercial cooperation in encryption technology capabilities and strengthening trade and exports in the sector by cyber security companies.

Unlocking Energy Innovation and Resilience

The Participants are strengthening cooperation to advance secure, resilient and diversified energy systems. Together we are expanding energy collaboration across SMR development and deployment, nuclear fission R&D, geothermal, and energy resilience, to support innovation and the reliable deployment of next-generation energy infrastructure.

Focus areas for collaboration are intended to include:

• Strengthening civil nuclear energy cooperation to accelerate the development and commercial deployment of American and Finnish nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs), and expand collaboration on regulatory harmonization;
• Advancing cooperation on nuclear lifecycle innovation including repository engineering, encapsulation of used nuclear fuel, nuclear monitoring technologies and SI-enabled geologic modeling;
• Advancing collaboration on geothermal technologies including the research, development and deployment of advanced drilling, subsurface characterization, and enhanced geothermal systems;
• Advancing development of the secure supply of advanced energy systems, including bulk power components and energy storage devices;
• Advancing cooperation on advanced manufacturing including rare-earth-free magnets, high-efficiency motors, advanced batteries, and advanced materials;
• Advancing cooperation on fusion technologies such as fusion fuel cycle and blanket integration systems, neutronics modeling, and fusion materials; and
• Promoting innovation in critical minerals technologies including the sensing, characterization, extraction, processing and recovery of critical minerals and advanced materials essential to energy systems.

Strengthening Space Collaboration

Recognizing that bilateral cooperation on space benefits both countries’ national interests, the Participants intend to deepen cooperation and engage in dialogue on space security, space exploration, and space technology research, development, and commercialization.

Focus areas for collaboration are intended to include:

• Continuing the partnership on space science and exploration, including potential collaboration on future Artemis lunar surface exploration missions and beyond;
• Facilitating cooperation between commercial actors from the United States and Finland, supporting growth of space companies from both countries and building on complementary strengths;
• Facilitating commercial and civil space cooperation by addressing regulatory burdens on commercial space activities and advocating for policies that can adapt to technical development, business innovation, and market demands; and
• Leveraging our geostrategic locations as space nations to promote Arctic security and prosperity.

Advancing Defense Innovation

Building on the above-mentioned areas with dual-use applications and the existing defense agreements, the Participants intend to pursue joint research projects, conduct pilot activities, and explore pathways for scaling promising technologies from research and demonstration to operational and industrial deployment.

Advancing Biomedical, Biotechnological, and Advanced Material Innovation

Recognizing the importance of advancing biotechnological research, including in biomedical and biomanufacturing fields, accelerating materials innovation through super intelligence, and securing biotechnology and health supply chains, the Participants intend to:

• Leverage insights derived from nationally governed health and research data infrastructures to advance precision medicine research and clinical research readiness, while reinforcing shared commitments to research and industrial security, trusted data infrastructure, and resilience against adversary-linked dependencies;
• Strengthen research and development and accelerate innovation and adoption of new solutions rooted in biotechnology broadly across supply chains and ecosystems; and
• Enhance research that combines computational, experimental, and data-based capabilities to accelerate the discovery, design, and validation of new materials.

Advancing Arctic Technology and Operational Capability

Recognizing the strategic importance of the Arctic to shared security, prosperity, and resilience, the Participants intend to support close collaboration on Arctic operations, ice navigation, maritime domain awareness, cold-weather testing, and enabling technologies. Recognizing Finland’s established leadership in icebreaker design and construction, the Participants intend to collaborate on icebreaker modernization efforts and related shipyard and workforce development.

The Participants intend to accelerate industrial cooperation and to modernize the United States’ icebreaker fleet under ICE Pact, leveraging Finnish expertise to support the secure and timely design, construction, and delivery of next-generation Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs). Expanding this framework, the Participants intend to explore possibilities to deepen their collaboration in ship design and shipbuilding technologies, processes, and shipyard management. Furthermore, the Participants intend to jointly invest in enabling technologies such as SI-driven manufacturing, ice technology, unmanned systems, and space-enabled situational awareness.

The Participants recognize the strategic importance of advancing Arctic connectivity including both satellite and submarine communication services. The Participants intend to advocate policies and commercial cooperation that enhance satellite coverage at high latitudes and support the establishment of subsea communication cables in the Arctic region, thereby strengthening connectivity between North America and Northern Europe and, eventually, the Indo-Pacific region.

Strengthening Security in Research and Industry

Recognizing the importance of shared research integrity and security across critical and emerging technology research and development, the Participants intend to strengthen continued collaboration to protect their technologies, their critical supply chains, and their people. The Participants intend to collaborate on research and industry security, and to identify and mitigate threats to both the research enterprise and private sector research and development.

Focus areas for collaboration are intended to include:

• Strengthening security in research and industry through intellectual property security, investment screening, and partnerships;
• Building trusted science and innovation ecosystems by mitigating high-risk entity participation in sensitive science and technology R&D activities;
• Strengthening safeguards and enforcement mechanisms for government-funded research and talent programs by enhancing disclosure of foreign funding and affiliations in order to mitigate and address security risks related to partnerships with entities of shared security concerns;
• Establishing a bilateral research security dialogue and information exchange on threats, cases, risk assessments, mitigation efforts, and entities of security concern;
• Collaborating with allies and partners to adopt enhanced research security practices to facilitate a trusted innovation ecosystem;
• Enhancing transparency and due diligence across the innovation ecosystem by strengthening vetting of research institutions, researchers, partnerships, and funding and implementing safeguards against foreign interference and malign talent recruitment; and
• Applying shared research integrity and security principles across TPD workstreams to guide collaboration, protect sensitive R&D activities, and inform future research and industrial security programming.

III. Operation and Discontinuation

1.   This MOU becomes operative on the date of the last signature. The Participants may modify this MOU by written mutual decision. Either Participant may discontinue this MOU at any time by providing written notice of discontinuation to the other Participant. The discontinuation is expected to commence on a date 180 days after the date on which notice of discontinuation is delivered. The Participants intend to advance the implementation of the MOU through the Joint Committee Meeting mechanism. The Participants intend to leverage, as appropriate, the Science and Technology Agreement as an operational framework for implementation of this MOU.

2.   This MOU does not constitute or create and is not intended to constitute or create any legally binding obligations. Nothing in this MOU is intended to alter or affect any existing agreements between the Participants.

3.   Cooperation under this MOU is intended to take place in accordance with the Participants’ applicable national legislation and international obligations, including, for Finland, applicable current and future European Union coordination, laws, and regulations, and without prejudice to the Participants’ respective regulatory processes.

4.   Nothing in this MOU commits the Participants to the expenditure of funds.

5.   Activities involving personal data are intended to comply with applicable data-protection frameworks. Nothing in this MOU authorizes the disclosure or transfer of classified, controlled, confidential business, or proprietary information. Matters involving the ownership, protection, access, use, licensing, or commercialization of intellectual property are expected to be addressed through separate implementing arrangements or project-specific agreements, as appropriate.

6.   The foregoing represents the understanding reached between the Participants on the matters referred to in this MOU.

Signed in Washington, D.C. on October 29 in English.

^[1] In Finland, ‘super intelligence’ refers to ‘artificial intelligence’

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