diff --git a/ml/Cargo.toml b/ml/Cargo.toml
index ed5931d28..81977c0f0 100644
--- a/ml/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ml/Cargo.toml
@@ -63,13 +63,14 @@ risk = { path = "../risk" }
 storage = { path = "../storage" }
 
 
-# Essential ML frameworks for HFT inference - CUDA ENABLED
+# Essential ML frameworks for HFT inference - CUDA OPTIONAL
 # Using specific git rev (671de1db) for cudarc 0.17.3 CUDA 13.0 compatibility
 # Rev 671de1db is v0.9.1 + cudarc 0.17.3 upgrade
-candle-core = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/candle", rev = "671de1db", features = ["cuda"] }  # GPU acceleration
+# CUDA features are optional - controlled by 'cuda' feature flag
+candle-core = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/candle", rev = "671de1db" }  # Base without GPU
 candle-nn = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/candle", rev = "671de1db" }
 # Use git version of candle-optimisers to match candle version
-candle-optimisers = { git = "https://github.com/KGrewal1/optimisers", features = ["cuda"] }
+candle-optimisers = { git = "https://github.com/KGrewal1/optimisers" }  # Base without GPU
 
 # HEAVY ML FRAMEWORKS REMOVED - MOVED TO ml_training_service
 # ort (ONNX Runtime) - REMOVED (1000+ dependencies alone!)
diff --git a/services/backtesting_service/Dockerfile b/services/backtesting_service/Dockerfile
index e81e61525..918e195d0 100644
--- a/services/backtesting_service/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/backtesting_service/Dockerfile
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /build
 
+# Set CUDA environment variables to skip GPU detection during build
+# CUDA 13.0 matches development environment, RTX 3050 Ti = compute capability 8.6
+ENV CUDARC_CUDA_VERSION=13000
+ENV CUDA_COMPUTE_CAP=86
+
 # Copy workspace manifests
 COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
 
diff --git a/services/ml_training_service/Dockerfile b/services/ml_training_service/Dockerfile
index b3f942bc9..3d3826843 100644
--- a/services/ml_training_service/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/ml_training_service/Dockerfile
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /build
 
+# Set CUDA environment variables to skip GPU detection during build
+# CUDA 13.0 matches development environment, RTX 3050 Ti = compute capability 8.6
+ENV CUDARC_CUDA_VERSION=13000
+ENV CUDA_COMPUTE_CAP=86
+
 # Copy workspace manifests
 COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
 
@@ -58,8 +63,8 @@ COPY services/integration_tests ./services/integration_tests
 COPY tests ./tests
 COPY migrations ./migrations
 
-# Build the application with CUDA support
-RUN cargo build --release -p ml_training_service --features cuda
+# Build the application (CUDA available at runtime via nvidia/cuda base image)
+RUN cargo build --release -p ml_training_service
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Runtime Stage with CUDA Runtime
diff --git a/services/trading_service/Dockerfile b/services/trading_service/Dockerfile
index c8913b285..7f90aa886 100644
--- a/services/trading_service/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/trading_service/Dockerfile
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /build
 
+# Set CUDA environment variables to skip GPU detection during build
+# CUDA 13.0 matches development environment, RTX 3050 Ti = compute capability 8.6
+ENV CUDARC_CUDA_VERSION=13000
+ENV CUDA_COMPUTE_CAP=86
+
 # Copy workspace manifests
 COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./