Nvidia has become the first public company to hit a $4 trillion market value globally.
The AI chip giant now surpasses Apple, redefining leadership in the next tech revolution.
Nvidia has officially become the world’s first publicly traded company to reach a market value of $4 trillion, a historic milestone that underscores the growing dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) in reshaping the global technology industry.
The achievement confirmed during trading on Wednesday highlights how Nvidia has rapidly transitioned from a niche chipmaker into the cornerstone of the AI revolution. The company’s success reflects broader trends as tech giants race to expand their AI capabilities, an arena in which Nvidia’s specialized processors are crucial.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Nvidia originally built its reputation on graphics processing units (GPUs) for gaming. Today, its chips power AI supercomputers, autonomous vehicles, cloud infrastructure, and generative AI models like ChatGPT.
Nvidia’s market value rose from $400 billion in early 2023 to $4 trillion today, representing a tenfold surge in just over 18 months. The company’s stock price, which briefly crossed the $163 mark on Wednesday, settled slightly below that figure by afternoon, but the symbolic milestone had already been set.
At $4 trillion, Nvidia now holds a market capitalization of $900 billion, higher than Apple, which has long been regarded as the benchmark for tech valuation milestones. Apple had previously set the pace, being the first to cross the $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion thresholds, primarily driven by its iPhone empire. Nvidia has now unseated the iPhone maker as the market’s new titan.
Industry experts see Nvidia’s rise as a sign of the tectonic shift in technological innovation, much like when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in 2007. AI is widely viewed as the next frontier, and Nvidia’s processors are at the center of it all.
Tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (Facebook) have budgeted a staggering $325 billion this year for AI investments, much of which is flowing directly into Nvidia AI chips and hardware systems that support massive, energy-intensive data centers.
“Nvidia is the oxygen of the AI economy,” said one analyst. “Without its chips, most generative AI applications wouldn’t exist.”
The surge in AI demand has propelled Nvidia to new heights, turning its founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, into a global tech icon. Nicknamed the “Godfather of AI,” Huang’s public appearances and keynote addresses now draw Apple-level excitement. His wealth has swelled to an estimated $142 billion, making him one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
In contrast, Apple has lagged in the AI race. The tech giant has made several promises to integrate more intelligent features into its iPhone and other products, including upgrades to its virtual assistant, Siri, but progress has been slow.
A year-old pledge to significantly improve Siri’s functionality remains unfulfilled, with Apple recently stating that its AI enhancements may not be ready until 2026. This delay has led some analysts to suggest that Apple may need to acquire an AI startup to maintain its competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, is collaborating with OpenAI on a wearable AI device that some insiders believe could challenge the iPhone’s position as the central tech companion.
Nvidia’s success hasn’t come without challenges. In April, the company’s stock dropped below $87 following President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs, sparking a global tech selloff. Compounding concerns were U.S. restrictions on Nvidia’s chip exports to China, which cost the company $4.5 billion in lost business.
But Nvidia bounced back quickly. In May, it reported a quarterly profit of $18.8 billion, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations and silencing critics who had doubted its resilience amid geopolitical tensions.
Now, attention turns to August 27, when the company will release its next financial report. Investors will be watching closely to see if Nvidia can maintain its unprecedented pace of growth in an increasingly crowded AI marketplace.
As the AI boom continues to reshape the tech industry, Nvidia’s dominance is redefining what success looks like in Silicon Valley. More than just a chipmaker, the company is now at the heart of a multi-trillion-dollar transformation that spans cloud computing, robotics, healthcare, and cybersecurity.
“AI is the new electricity,” Huang recently said. “And Nvidia is building the power stations.”
