Most haven’t heard of Nvidia but it has been around for decades, making computer chips that can run graphics-heavy video games. What began as a meeting at a Denny’s diner has become a semiconductor company that’s at the centre of the AI revolution. It is on the verge of becoming the first $1 trillion chip company. Worth $939.3 billion, it is now more valuable than Tesla and Facebook while it’s behind companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon and oil giant Saudi Aramco.
Powering the market boost is AI technology. “When generative AI came along, it triggered a killer app for this computing platform that’s been in preparation for some time,” Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang said. Unlike Apple or Google, Nvidia isn’t as known a company as hardware or software makers. Nvidia doesn’t make consumer devices or Internet services but its chips are used in PCs, cars and robots. Start-ups have to compete with Big Tech companies for Nvidia’s GPUs. The Washington Post recently reported that at the Newcomer AI conference in March, David Luan, co-founder of AI start-up Adept Labs, said once an AI company figures out its business model, they need venture capital money so they can begin “sending cheques to Jensen”.
Demand for Nvidia’s chips is on the rise despite calls for control of AI technology. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai recently met top European Union and said Google would work with others to develop AI services responsibly.