Journalism begins where hype ends

,,

The danger of AI is not that it will become conscious and hate us, but that it will become competent and ignore us."

—Eliezer Yudkowsky

Explained: How NVIDIA Became the Company Every AI Model Depends On

NVIDIA's headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The chipmaker, which briefly crossed a $5.5-trillion market capitalisation in May 2026, holds an estimated 95% share of the AI GPU market. (Image: NVIDIA)

From rendering video game graphics to powering nearly every AI model on the planet, NVIDIA’s rise is no accident. We break down the three-decade stack of bets — GPUs, CUDA, and now open models — that made one chipmaker the most valuable company in history.