Challengers are Coming for Nvidia's Crown: In AI's Game of Thrones, Don't Count Out the Upstarts

IT'S HARD TO OVERSTATE NVIDIA'S AI DOMINANCE. Founded in 1993, Nvidia first made its mark in the then-new field of graphics processing units (GPUs) for personal computers. But it's the company's AI chips, not PC graphics hardware, that vaulted Nvidia into the ranks of the world's most valuable companies. It turns out that Nvidia's GPUs are also excellent for AI. As a result, its stock is more than 15 times as valuable as it was at the start of 2020; revenues have ballooned from roughly US $12 billion in its 2019 fiscal year to $60 billion in 2024; and the AI powerhouse's leading-edge chips are as scarce, and desired, as water in a desert.