AI craze makes chipmaker Nvidia first $5-trillion firm

Nvidia has become the first $5-trillion company, just three months after the chipmaker was first to break through the $4-trillion barrier. Hitting the benchmark puts more emphasis on the upheaval being unleashed by an artificial intelligence craze that’s viewed as the biggest tectonic shift in technology since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone 18 years ago.

But there are concerns of a possible AI bubble, with officials at the Bank of England earlier this month flagging the growing risk that tech stock prices pumped up by the AI boom could burst.

The ravenous appetite for Nvidia’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023. On Wednesday, shares touched $207.86 in early morning trading, putting its market cap at $5.05 trillion.

Nvidia’s value is greater than the GDP of India, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to the IMF.