Nvidia Is Now Worth $5T as It Consolidates Power (www.nytimes.com)

Nvidia crossed a historic threshold this week, becoming the first publicly traded company valued at $5 trillion, a rise driven by the AI boom sparked by ChatGPT and massive corporate spending on AI data centers. That valuation underscores how Nvidia’s GPUs and ecosystem (including its CUDA programming stack) have become the linchpin of modern AI infrastructure — the company now accounts for a disproportionate share of tech-market concentration and was credited with driving the majority of U.S. GDP growth tied to data-center investment in early 2024. At the same time, Wall Street and analysts warn the market is increasingly dependent on a small set of tech giants to justify sky-high expectations. Technically and geopolitically, Nvidia’s dominance is concrete: its GPUs hold over 90% market share for AI chips, it started making its Blackwell chips at TSMC’s Arizona plant, and it has orders to ship ~20 million of the newest chips (versus ~4 million of the prior generation), representing roughly $500 billion in potential sales. Nvidia forecasts blockbuster profits (>$26B this quarter) and could earn tens of billions more from China if export restrictions ease; the company has even agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of China-related chip revenues under a recent deal. The milestone highlights both the transformative technical role of GPUs and the policy, supply-chain and valuation risks tied to a single company’s centrality in the AI economy.