How the new Steve Jobs used AI to amass $100bn

Jen-hsun Huang - founder and chief of Nvidia - has achieved god-like status with investors hanging on his every word and his company valued at $3 trillion,

- Chris Blackhurst

A friend of mine works for the tech company Nvidia in London. I won't say who he is or provide any detail that will identify him, because it's not fair. He's not a tech person and when he first went there, in a non-tech role, there was a certain bemusement and disinterest. "They make chips", he would say, almost shrugging apologetically. He didn’t seem to know what they did either.

It was a conversation stopper and we would change the subject and move on. Then, the tenor of the chat altered. He’d got some shares and he would say what the business was worth compared to the last time we met.

Even then, it seemed temporary and unreal. Yet, sure enough, on the next occasion he would quote a higher figure. Last time he was pinching himself. He was gleeful, shaking his head at the steepness of Nvidia’s upward market capitalisation curve, not believing his own good fortune.

Now the talk has shifted completely. Far from wondering what he is doing there, we find ourselves trying to hide our jealousy. We’re pleased for him, of course we are, but we would be lying if we said we’re not envious. He’s on the staff of the second-most valuable company in the world, worth more than $3 trillion (£2.3 trillion). He’s a shareholder in the firm which is on course to become the number one. It’s not a question of if, but when, Nvidia surpasses Microsoft.

Wall Street is on a tear, as they say in the US, where Nvidia is concerned. Investors cannot get enough of the company that makes microchip artificial intelligence processors, trading and operating AI systems, such as ChatGPT. As AI has taken off and is displaying its usefulness and hinting at what is likely to be undreamt of potential, so too has Nvidia. Someone investing $8,000 (£6,250) nine years ago is today sitting on a stake of $1.22m (£950,000).