Nvidia made history on Wednesday as the first company to reach $5 trillion in market value, powered by a stunning rally that has cemented its place at the centre of the global artificial intelligence boom.
The milestone underscores the company’s swift transformation from a niche graphics-chip designer into the backbone of the global AI industry, turning CEO Jensen Huang into a Silicon Valley icon and making its advanced chips a flashpoint in the tech rivalry between the U.S. and China.
Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Nvidia’s shares have climbed 12-fold as the AI frenzy propelled the S&P 500 to record highs, igniting a debate on whether frothy tech valuations could lead to the next big bubble.
The new milestone, coming just three months after Nvidia breached the $4 trillion mark, would surpass the total cryptocurrency market value and equal roughly half the size of Europe’s benchmark equities index, the Stoxx 600 index.
Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company rose 4.6 per cent after a string of recent announcements solidified its dominance in the AI race.
Huang unveiled $500 billion in AI chip orders on Tuesday and said he plans to build seven supercomputers for the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is expected to discuss Nvidia’s Blackwell chip with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
Sales of the high-end chip have been a key sticking point between the two sides due to Washington’s export controls.
(Production: Shung Sin Tan)
