Nvidia becomes world’s most valuable company as AI rally steams ahead
- The semiconductor giant jumped ahead of big tech rivals Microsoft and Apple, as it dominates the AI market with high-powered chips
Nvidia Corp’s relentless rally has propelled the semiconductor giant’s market capitalisation over its mega-cap tech peers, helping it clinch the title of the world’s most valuable company as the artificial intelligence (AI) wave continues.
Shares rose as much as 4 per cent to about US$3.3 trillion on Tuesday, catapulting it over Microsoft Corp and Apple. The top stocks have jockeyed all month for the pole position, with Nvidia edging past its Big Tech peers.
Earlier in the month, Nvidia topped Apple by market value for the first time since 2002, and the two went back and forth in rankings in recent days. Last week, Apple also overtook Microsoft to trade in the top spot briefly.
The ranking is yet another reminder that AI is the top focus of many investors. Nvidia is seen as the biggest and earliest beneficiary of the technology, as it dominates the market with its highly sought-after chips that help power data centres running complex computing tasks required by AI applications.
Demand for its H100 graphics processing units (GPUs) are surging and helped drive the chip maker’s sales up by more than 125 per cent last year.
Microsoft, for its part, is also seen as an early AI winner given its investment and partnership with OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT. And, this week, Apple shares rallied after the iPhone maker finally unveiled its plan for using the technology, appeasing investors at long last.