Nvidia dethrones Apple as world’s most valuable company
Nvidia’s stock market value briefly reached USD 3.53 trillion, a little above Apple’s USD 3.52 trillion. The surge in its market value is driven by demand for its chips, the gold standard for AI.
Nvidia overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company on Friday (October 25) after a record-setting rally in the stock, driven by exploding demand for its AI chips.
Nvidia’s stock market value briefly reached USD 3.53 trillion, a little above Apple’s USD 3.52 trillion, according to a Reuters report.
In June, Nvidia had briefly become the most valuable company before being overtaken by Microsoft and Apple.
The surge in the company’s market value is driven by demand for its chips, which are the gold standard for AI.
Once known for its gaming processors, Nvidia is now the biggest supplier of crucial processors used in AI computing.
Nvidia makes the chips that are fundamental to training and operating AI systems, and the demand for this key infrastructure keeps rising as major technology companies join the AI race.
Nvidia’s stock has surged 190% this year, making CEO Jensen Huang one of the world’s wealthiest persons.
According to a recent report by The New York Times, Intel reportedly almost bought Nvidia for USD 20 billion in 2005, with the then Intel CEO Paul Otellini excited about Nvidia’s prospects. But the board of directors didn’t agree with Otellini.
Intel’s board of directors opposed the idea as it would have been the company’s most expensive acquisition. At the time, Nvidia was known mostly for its computer graphics chips, and the AI boom was still years away.
Nvidia likes to release a new AI chip architecture every year, instead of every other year as was the case in the industry.