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As a key supplier of hardware for the growing AI sector, Nvidia has had a rapid rise in valuation, shooting up to $1trn last year and now taking the top spot at $3.34trn.
Nvidia has made a sudden surge, racing past both Apple and Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company.
The chipmaker rose up during a period of growth for all three companies but still came out on top, as its market capitalisation hit $3.34trn yesterday (18 June). This sudden rise beat Microsoft, which has a market cap of $3.32trn, while Apple is now in the third spot with $3.29trn.
The increased value of all three companies is significant – Apple reached a record $3.18trn valuation just last week, but was still tens of billions of dollars behind Microsoft at the time.
The new value of the three companies also showcases the benefit AI has had for its key players – Nvidia and Microsoft have both surged in value over the past couple of years thanks to their focus in this sector, while Apple recently made gains thanks to its own announcements of AI features.
The rapid rise of Nvidia
Many companies have been boosted thanks to AI, but Nvidia has arguably benefitted more than any other business. The company has been a key player in supplying the chips needed to power various AI applications and has grown dramatically as a result.
Nvidia reached a valuation of $1trn last year thanks to its focus on AI chips and hit the $2trn milestone briefly in February. The chipmaker managed to surge to a market cap of $3.02trn earlier this month, pushing Apple down to the third position.
Apple managed to regain its position behind Microsoft last week after its Worldwide Developers Conference, when it finally made a push into AI with its ‘Apple Intelligence’ announcement.
The tech giant has grown significantly since then, but hasn’t been able to beat the momentum of Microsoft and Nvidia. Apple was the first company in the world to reach a $3trn valuation, but this headstart did not protect it from the global AI surge.
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