[Updated] Nvidia Surpasses Apple To Become Second Most Valuable US Firm as It Unveils New AI Chips

Update: Nvidia, Wall Street’s favorite artificial intelligence darling, is continuing to swell to staggering heights. The AI chipmaker’s market capitalization rose to $3.019 trillion on Wednesday, nudging slightly past Apple’s also $2.99 trillion market cap and making it the second-largest publicly traded company in the US by that measure, just behind Microsoft’s market cap of $3.15 trillion.

In a remarkable twist in the tech space, an American multinational corporation and technology company leading the way in AI computing, Nvidia, is reportedly on the brink of surpassing Apple to become the second-most valuable company in the world.

Nvidia’s growth trajectory has been propelled by its dominance in the semiconductor industry, particularly in the realms of artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s innovative products and strategic advancements have positioned it as a leader in these critical technologies, driving substantial increases in its stock price and market capitalization.

The AI computing firm is poised to overtake Apple, after the Cupertino giant lost its number spot to its longtime rival Microsoft, this year, due to weak demand and stiff competition in China.

Microsoft hit a market cap of $2.89 trillion while Apple’s fell slightly to $2.87 trillion. Much of Microsoft’s success has been credited to it embracing AI, led by the company’s $10 billion investment in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.

Speaking on the possibility of Nvidia overtaking Apple as the second most valuable company, Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management said,

“Recently, Apple’s innovation curve seems to have flattened, showing slower future growth. On the other hand, Nvidia has been able to catch wave upon wave of growth. Beginning with gaming demand, then crypto and now Al, they have been able to perfectly match innovation with demand and that equals explosive growth.”

Ever since Artificial Intelligence (AI) began to trend, Nvidia has experienced remarkable growth which saw it become the fastest company to grow from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in 2024, surpassing giant tech companies like Amazon, and Alphabet, amongst others.

The company has so far maintained dominance in the AI chips market, recording a 27% rally of sales in May, pushing its market cap to $2.7 trillion, behind only Microsoft and Apple, among the most valuable public companies in the world.

The reliance of virtually all artificial intelligence applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Nvidia’s high-end chips has helped the stock nearly triple in value over the past year to &2.68 trillion.

The incessant rally in Nvidia’s stock has given it a realistic chance of becoming the biggest U.S. company. Currently, only Microsoft and Apple have a market cap larger than Nvidia’s.

Since its blowout forecast about a year ago, the company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s expectations for revenue and profit, with demand for its graphic processors far outstripping supply as Big Tech rushes to embed Al applications.

Notably, the semiconductor company is heavily weighted on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and has been pivotal in driving US stocks to record highs. It is not far-fetched to say that the rise of artificial intelligence has captivated investors and has helped boost the revenue of Nvidia.

The company has seen a major move since the beginning of 2023, thanks to its position as the preeminent supplier of AI chips. Nvidia forecast revenue of $24 billion at the midpoint for its fiscal Q1 2025, while analysts at Wall Street expect its revenues to surpass $100 billion in this fiscal year and $130 billion in the next.

With no signs of the demand for generative AI slowing down, Nvidia is poised to grow significantly. The company is hellbent on maintaining its dominance after CEO Jensen Huang recently revealed a roadmap for new semiconductors that will arrive on a one-year rhythm.

Jensen said the company plans to launch a new batch of AI chips every year, accelerating its prior release schedule of roughly every two years. Nvidia is enticing its customers with more powerful chips to spur new orders as it faces heightened competition from other giant tech companies.

Nvidia Unveils New AI Chips to Succeed Its Previous Model

Meanwhile, Nvidia, an American multinational corporation and technology company leading the way in AI computing, has unveiled its next-generation Artificial Intelligence chips.

The launch of the AI chips is coming three months after the company rolled out a new generation of AI chips named Balckwell, and software for running artificial intelligence models.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia (NVDA), said on Sunday that the company expects to launch the Blackwell Ultra chip in 2025, and its most advanced AI chip platform called Rubin in 2026.

The Rubin platform will succeed the Blackwell, which supplies chips for data centers. It was dubbed by Nvidia at the time as the “world’s most powerful chip.”

Speaking on the rollout of new chips, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said,

“Today, we’re at the cusp of a major shift in computing. The intersection of AI and accelerated computing is set to redefine the future.”

He further revealed a roadmap for new semiconductors that will arrive on a “one-year rhythm.” Huang said the company plans to launch a new batch of AI chips every year, accelerating its prior release schedule of roughly every two years.

Nvidia is enticing its customers with more powerful chips to spur new orders as it faces heightened competition from other giant tech companies.

The company has so far maintained dominance in the AI chips market, which saw a 27% rally of sales in May, pushing its market cap to $2.7 trillion, behind only Microsoft and Apple, among the most valuable public companies in the world.

Also, the chipmaker reported a tripling in year-over-year sales for the third straight quarter driven by soaring demand for its artificial intelligence processors.

Speaking on Nvidia’s lead in the AI chip market, Richard Windsor, founder of Radio Free Mobile, a research company focusing on the digital and mobile ecosystem said,

“Nvidia clearly intends to keep its dominance for as long as possible and in the current generation, there is nothing really on the horizon to challenge that”.

Reports reveal that Nvidia is poised to encounter fierce competition as a consortium of rival companies have collaborated to construct a suite of AI-powered software tools.

According to Reuters, tech giants which include Google, Qualcomm, and Intel have grouped in a consortium named the UXL Foundation to build a suite of software and tools that will be able to power multiple types of AI accelerator chips.

The software, an open-source project built initially using Intel technology, aims to make computer code run on any machine, regardless of what chip and hardware powers it.

While Nvidia has established itself as a leader in AI hardware with its GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), there are speculations that the rise of competing software solutions could disrupt its market dominance and reshape the competitive landscape.