Nvidia Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company, Surpassing Microsoft

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has become the world's most valuable public company, surpassing Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with a market cap of $3.33 trillion. This surge is driven by a 3.2% increase in Nvidia shares, which have soared over 170% this year. The company hit this milestone after reporting impressive first-quarter earnings in May, coinciding with the rise of generative AI.

Nvidia dominates the AI chip market, holding 80% of the market share for data center AI chips. Its data center business revenue skyrocketed 427% from last year to $22.6 billion, making up 86% of the company's total sales.

Founded in 1991, Nvidia initially focused on gaming graphics chips. It later expanded into cryptocurrency mining and cloud gaming. Over the past two years, its stock has skyrocketed as its technology became central to the AI boom. This rise has also boosted CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth to $117 billion.

Microsoft, despite being a major AI player, saw its shares slightly dip, leaving it with a $3.32 trillion market cap. The company heavily invests in AI through its stake in OpenAI and the integration of AI models into Office and Windows. It also relies on Nvidia’s GPUs for its Azure cloud service.