Nvidia rides the AI wave to become the world’s most valuable public company

The AI boom has significantly reshaped the tech industry with Nvidia at the forefront. Originally known for making GPUs for gaming, Nvidia’s chips have proven exceptionally well-suited for AI tasks.

“Nvidia, once known for its GPU computing capabilities in gaming and 3D graphics, has transformed into the cornerstone of the AI and cloud computing sectors, the fastest-growing areas as we enter the AI Super Cycle,” said Neil Shah, VP for research and partner at Counterpoint Research.

“Despite past struggles, such as missing out on the lucrative mobile market and facing setbacks in entering the CPU sector after the failed ARM acquisition, Nvidia has thrived.  The company’s early recognition of AI’s potential allowed it to optimize its GPUs for AI applications, securing around 70% of the AI chip market.”

Strategic evolution of Nvidia

Nvidia’s unmatched GPU performance has been the bedrock of AI, with their developer-friendly CUDA software creating a powerful ecosystem for critical AI tasks across industries, according to Ram. “As Industry 4.0 unfolds, Nvidia’s GPUs are positioned as a core resource, driving further AI adoption.”

The advent of generative AI techniques and models coincided perfectly with advancements in semiconductor technology, particularly with process nodes below 5nm. These advancements have enabled the production of high-density semiconductor chips capable of training billions of parameters and data points in a matter of days.

This created a flywheel effect for Nvidia, whose powerful GPUs can train these models in days rather than years, Shah said.